Nursery education for 3 and 4 year olds: guidance for local authorities

This guidance assists local authorities in Wales to exercise their duty to secure sufficient, child-centred, high-quality nursery education for 3 and 4 year olds in schools and non-maintained settings. It replaces the 2018 guidance ‘Foundation Phase provision for 3 and 4 year olds: guidance for local authorities in Wales’.

This guidance contains both statutory and non-statutory guidance.

The statutory guidance is in ‘Statutory guidance: planning and delivery of nursery education’ section.

The rest of this guidance document provides non-statutory guidance. This guidance is not and does not purport to be a comprehensive statement of the law. 

Local authorities should seek their own legal advice as to what the law requires.

Legislation

The statutory guidance is issued under section 118(2)(b) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (“the 1998 Act”). 

Section 118(1) of the 1998 Act provides that local authorities must secure the provision of sufficient nursery education for children in their area who have not attained:

• compulsory school age
• such age as may be prescribed in regulations by the Welsh Ministers

The Education (Nursery Education and Early Years Development and Childcare Plans) (Wales) Regulations 2003 (as amended by the Education (Nursery Education and Early Years Development and Childcare Plans) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2005) set out the requirement to provide a nursery place after a child’s third birthday.

Local authorities are legally required to have regard to the statutory guidance when exercising any functions which are the subject of the statutory guidance. They have no legal requirement to follow it in all circumstances. However, there is a legal requirement that a local authority considers it and must have taken it into account when exercising any functions which are the subject of the statutory guidance. A local authority may depart from the statutory guidance if they have good reason to do so (but they must be able to evidence that they have done so).

The non-statutory guidance is issued under section 10 of the Education Act 1996. This section places a duty on the Welsh Ministers to promote the education of persons in Wales. In this respect a local authority is not subject to an express duty to have regard to the guidance. However, the guidance is designed to assist local authorities discharge the functions to which it relates. Welsh Ministers would expect those to whom it is addressed to take it into account when considering matters to which it relates.

This guidance is advisory. Throughout the guidance we use the term ‘should’, but it is only advice and does not mean that something must be done. 

Nursery education

Section 117 of the 1998 Act defines nursery education to mean full or part-time education suitable for children who have not attained compulsory school age (whether provided at schools or elsewhere).

Compulsory school age is determined by section 8 of the Education Act 1996 and the Education (Start of Compulsory School Age) Order 1998. In summary a child must start full-time education once they reach compulsory school age. This is on 31 December, 31 March or 31 August following their fifth birthday, whichever comes first. If a child’s fifth birthday is on one of those dates, then they reach compulsory school age on that date.

Local authorities must make sufficient funded nursery education places available for all 3 and 4 year olds dependent on when their birthday falls. The Education (Nursery Education and Early Years Development and Childcare Plans) (Wales) Regulations 2003 provides that:

• when the place is available will depend on when the child is born
• children will receive between 3 and 5 terms depending on their birthday

The date on which a child can receive a funded nursery place is as follows.

Local authorities use a variety of different terms for nursery education such as:

• ‘early education’
• ‘early entitlement’ 
• ‘nursery provision’

For consistency, we use ‘nursery education’ throughout this guidance.

Nursery education:

• is the start of the 3 to 16 continuum of learning within the Curriculum for Wales
• is a key tenet of Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care (ECPLC)
• forms part of the Childcare Offer (“the Offer”) 
• sits alongside other key programmes such as Flying Start

Each of these support high-quality learning and development for our youngest learners.

The Curriculum for Wales and foundation learning

The Curriculum for Wales framework guidance sets out the requirements for a:

• broad and balanced education
• continuum of learning for children from 3 to 16 years of age

As part of the Curriculum for Wales roll-out in 2022, the terms ‘Foundation Phase’ and ‘key stages’ were removed from the curriculum to reflect the continuum of learning.

Foundation learning forms part of the Curriculum for Wales and:

• is designed to reflect the specific learning and development needs of children up to the age of 8 or learners who have additional needs
• reflects the practice and pedagogy that scaffolds learning and development in the early years
• helps ensure effective high-quality developmentally appropriate provision

This reflects the importance the Welsh Government places on this unique period of learning and teaching.

The Welsh Government published a curriculum for funded non-maintained nursery settings in 2022 for settings to adopt. It enables them to meet their statutory requirements through a curriculum that is high quality and developmentally appropriate.

Settings are not required to adopt this curriculum. However, if they are funded by the local authority to provide nursery education, they must adopt a curriculum that complies with the mandatory requirements of the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021.

Schools are required to design their own curriculum and assessment arrangements and they can use the curriculum for funded non-maintained nursery settings and the associated assessment arrangements to develop their own arrangements if they wish to do so.

This section provides statutory guidance pursuant to section 118(2)(b) of the 1998 Act. As such local authorities are obliged to have regard to it. 

Local authorities have a duty to secure sufficient nursery education for children in their area. This is satisfied where they secure a minimum of 10 hours of provision a week for the same number of weeks as the normal school year (39 weeks) in a:

• school (maintained setting) 
• non-maintained setting that is registered with the local authority to deliver nursery education (such as a childminder, cylch meithrin, day nursery or playgroup)

Local authorities must decide for themselves what nursery education is sufficient for their area. They are best placed to decide:

• how to secure and deliver nursery education based on local circumstances and the needs of their children and families
• whether provision is in schools or non-maintained settings, or a combination of both

As nursery education can take place in a childcare setting, local authorities should use Childcare Sufficiency Assessments to identify any challenges in offering flexible nursery education to meet the needs of the child.

Planning and delivery of effective, inclusive nursery education provision

Local authorities should:

• have appropriate plans to deliver high-quality nursery places for all 3 and 4 year old children
• ensure all types of provision are considered to deliver nursery education that best meets the needs of children, taking account of the wishes of their family
• consider how delivery of programmes such as Flying Start and the Childcare Offer align with nursery education provision to support smoother transitions for children 
• ensure nursery places are available within reasonable travelling distance of a child’s home if this is the family’s preference (including cross-border arrangements)
• work with families to promote the benefits, choice and availability of nursery education for 3 and 4 year old children
• ensure sufficient Welsh-medium provision is available, and ensure they deliver Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) commitments
• align nursery education and childcare provision to enable eligible families to take up the 30 hours of the Offer 
• take account of the National Minimum Standards for Regulated Childcare when procuring nursery education provision in settings
• support early identification of additional learning needs (ALN) to enable settings and schools to meet all children’s needs in an equitable and inclusive manner, taking account of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and the accompanying Additional Learning Needs Code 
• recognise that partnership working between the maintained and non-maintained sectors can result in positive benefits in helping secure the most appropriate provision for children
• work with providers in schools and settings to ensure they are aware of the requirements and benefits of delivering nursery education
• provide sufficient and effective support, information, advice and training to schools and settings to ensure high-quality nursery education provision is available
• ensure advisors providing dedicated nursery education support to settings are qualified early years teachers that can provide regular visits, bespoke support and high-quality relevant professional learning for practitioners 
• ensure appropriate and accessible professional learning is available to all staff providing support to settings and schools to enhance continuous professional development
• maintain a skilled, knowledgeable workforce in schools and settings with a sound understanding of the Curriculum for Wales, developmentally appropriate pedagogies, child development and children’s rights
• monitor take-up and quality of service, and intervene as and when appropriate to ensure high-quality nursery education provision is maintained

Local authorities and providers should enable as many 3 and 4 year old children as possible to attend nursery education in a school or non-maintained setting. To do this they should ensure high-quality and equitable provision to support the learning and development of young children.

Local authorities should ensure that families understand what is and what is not government-funded nursery education provision.

The Welsh Government does not require nursery education to be delivered for a set number of hours over a set number of days. However, education provision must be child-centred. There is significant evidence to suggest that shorter periods of learning are especially beneficial for nursery-aged children.

Local authorities should consider flexible models to help remove the barriers some families experience in enabling their children to access nursery education. Any provision must be in the best interests of the child, and local authorities need to balance provision with the knowledge that unless they engage with parents and carers they risk the child not being able to access nursery education.

In planning this, consideration should be given to the diverse needs of:

• working families or families seeking work or training opportunities
• low-income families
• lone parent or carer families
• disabled parents or carers 
• families from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds
• Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families
• children living in refuge due to domestic violence
• children with ALN
• armed forces families at military bases in Wales

For families who want their child to take up a place in a different local authority area to the one where they live, local authorities must collaborate with neighbouring authorities. Cross-border arrangements between local authorities must:

• be facilitated in a timely manner
• have the child’s interests at the centre

Local authorities should establish and maintain a service providing families with a wide range of information and assistance. As part of this, local authorities should provide families with information to:

• help them understand what nursery education provision and wraparound care is available
• encourage them to ensure their child accesses nursery education 
• help them understand what else they can access, for example funded childcare as part of the Offer

Education practitioners should form close links with other practitioners working with families who have young children. These other practitioners could include:

• the Family Information Service
• Flying Start 
• social services

Health visitors are also key to reaching families with young children. It is important they are aware of the entitlement and benefits of nursery education so they can share information with families. 

Local authorities should consider a holistic approach in engaging with other sectors to support children into nursery education.

The Childcare Offer provides 30 hours of government-funded nursery education and childcare for 3 and 4 year old children of eligible parents and carers for up to 48 weeks of the year. The 30 hours comprise:

• a minimum of 10 hours of nursery education a week during term time
• a maximum of 20 hours a week of childcare during term time
• up to 30 hours funded childcare during school holidays

It is important that parents and carers are made aware of the need to apply for a nursery education place through the local authority only. They cannot apply on the Childcare Offer website. 

Funded nursery education is a minimum of 10 hours a week, and as such the maximum number of funded childcare hours a parent or carer can access remains the same regardless of whether they choose to access nursery education for their child during term time or not.

Nursery education hours cannot be swapped for hours of childcare. For example, in a local authority that offers 12.5 hours of nursery education, parents or carers would be able to access a maximum of 17.5 hours of funded childcare during term time. In a local authority that offers 30 hours of nursery education, parents or carers would only be able to access funded childcare during the school holidays.

Nursery education funding is provided through:

• core funding for local authorities in the Revenue Support Grant as part of the Local Government Settlement
• the Local Authority Education Grant (LAEG) which provides financial assistance to improve educational outcomes for all learners

The LAEG supports:

• early years advisory teachers to help deliver high-quality nursery education in non-maintained nursery settings
• implementation of the foundation learning staff-to-learner ratios in schools
• delivery of nursery education and government-funded childcare under the Offer at a consistent funding rate

Local authorities should offer all non-maintained settings funded to deliver nursery education a consistent funding rate. The rate per hour per child should be equivalent to that offered by the Welsh Government for the funded childcare element of the Offer. 

Schools

Local authorities are required to passport funding within the LAEG for ratios to schools in full. They should use the allocation determined by the national formula, weighted to ensure foundation learning staff-to-learner ratios are implemented. Schools should achieve the ratios of:

• 1:8 for Nursery and Reception 
• 1:15 for Year 1 and Year 2

Non-maintained settings

Regulated non-maintained providers are required to adhere to the National Minimum Standards for Regulated Childcare. This includes the minimum staffing qualification and ratios for all non-maintained settings.

The following policies and programmes work with and alongside the provision of nursery education. 

Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care

Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care (ECPLC) is the Welsh Government’s vision for high-quality, play-based childcare and education opportunities for all babies and young children aged 0 to 5 years, including children in nursery education aged 3 to 4 years.

Local authorities should take account of A Quality Framework for Early Childhood, Play, Learning and Care in Wales and other ECPLC resources that places the child and child development at the heart of nursery education provision.

Flying Start

Flying Start can support smoother transitions into nursery education, and children will usually move into nursery education at the end of their time in Flying Start childcare. 

There may be some degree of flexibility where this does not synchronise with local school intake arrangements. This would need to be agreed with the local authority and childcare provider.

If you have any questions about this guidance or nursery provision, please contact: foundationlearning@gov.wales.