Meeting the childcare needs of children with SEND

Our 22nd annual Childcare Survey revealed that only 18% of local authorities have enough childcare for disabled children. With this in shocking statistic in mind, we knew we had to make children with SEND the focus of this year’s Childcare Survey panel event.

Why do some children miss out on early education, and what can be done to help? This is the question that a new study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and delivered by the Centre for Evidence and Implementation, Coram Family and Childcare and UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities with Ivana La Valle seeks to answer.

Coram Family and Childcare’s 22nd annual Childcare Survey published today reveals a sharp drop in childcare availability across England over the past year, with only half of local areas reporting sufficient childcare for children under two, a decrease of 7% on 2022, and under half (48%) reporting enough childcare for parents working full-time, a decrease of 11% on last year.

Calls for change for our childcare system are coming thick and fast and from an increasingly broad range of people.