Early learning and childcare (ELC): provision for 1 and 2 year olds in Scotland

Footnotes

^1. Stakeholders included relevant policy teams from the Scottish Government, Care Inspectorate, Scottish Childminding Association, Early Years Scotland, Care and Learning Alliance, National Day Nurseries Association, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Education Scotland, and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland.

^2. The ELC sector refers to all providers caring for 1- and 2-year-olds in Scotland.

^3. The number of places per child in each age group was calculated by taking the total number of ELC places in formal group-based settings for that age group (as provided by the Care Inspectorate) and dividing it by the total number of children of that age in Scotland (as provided by the ONS Population Estimates for Scotland).

^4. Deprivation was determined using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, associated with each provider in the dataset, as it is recorded by the Care Inspectorate.

^5. With 90% confidence that this value is statistically different from zero.

^6. With 99% confidence that this value is statistically different from zero.

^7. The five regions used in the report correspond to the Office of National Statistics ITL 2 regions. Eastern Scotland comprises Angus, Dundee City, East Lothian, Midlothian, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, West Lothian, Clackmannanshire, and Fife. The Highlands and Islands region comprises Orkney Islands, Shetland, Na-h Eileanan Siar, Highland Council, Moray, and Argyll & Bute (excluding Helensburgh and Lomond), and Arran and Cumbrae. Southern Scotland comprises Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire, North Ayrshire (excluding Arran and Cumbrae), and Scottish Borders. West Central Scotland comprises East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, and Helensburgh and Lomond. Finally, North Eastern Scotland comprises Aberdeen City, and Aberdeenshire. Where regions did not map exactly onto an LA, the postcode (and datazone) of the provider was used to assign them to a specific region.

^8. The Care Inspectorate's regulation for child staff ratios in group based ELC settings are that there is to be one adult for every 3 children aged 0 to under 2-years-old, one adult for every five children aged 2 to under 3-years-old, and 1 adult for every eight children aged 3 to under 8-year-old. Per Care Inspectorate regulations, childminders can care for a maximum of 8 children under the age of 16, of whom no more than 6 can be under 12, and no more than three are under primary school age, including the childminder's own children.

^9. Urban areas refer to settlements of 10,000 people or more, accessible rural areas refer to settlements of up to 9,999 people that are within a 30-minute drive from a settlement of 10,000 or more, and remote areas are areas with a population of up to 9,999 that are more than a 30-minute drive from a settlement of 10,000 or more.

^10. Scottish Government (2021) The challenges of rural childcare provision, innovative models and the needs of agricultural families.

^11. The Scottish Government (2022) Parents views and use of early learning and childcare in Scotland, 2022.

^12. Other provision types mentioned by respondents include: Ante-natal PEEP, Baby Chat, Bookbug, Community Practitioners, Community Sports and Leisure Activities, Early Years Centre, Stay, Play and Learn (run by Early Years Scotland), Families First, Family Connection Programme, Family Learning Team, Family Nursery Partnership, Family Wellbeing Services, Little Explorers, Mellow Parenting, Multi-agency resource allocation group, Parent and Family Support Team, Parenting programmes, PoPP, Raising Children with Confidence, Roots of Empathy, Soft play, Young Parent Support Base.

^13. Care Inspectorate (2018) Guidance on adult to child ratios in early learning and childcare settings.

^14. Care Inspectorate (2018) Nappy changing facilities for early learning and childcare services: information to support improvement.

^15. Please note that the sample of survey respondents, and therefore the survey findings, are not representative of all providers in each local authority.

^16. Survey respondents could choose from the following options: parenting support programmes; parental engagement and family learning programmes (e.g., Stay and Play; Parents as Early Education Partners (PEEP)); cognitive and emotional development support programmes; tailored support for children with ASN; smaller classes or groups of children; smaller physical spaces (e.g., smaller rooms); different physical spaces (other than size of space).

^17. Data on ELC places do not include places in childminder settings, as the CI does not publish age disaggregated data for childminders.

^18. Data on ELC places do not include places in childminder settings, as the Care Inspectorate do not publish age disaggregated data for childminders.

^19. Data on ELC places do not include places in childminder settings, as the Care Inspectorate do not publish age disaggregated data for childminders.

^20. Data on ELC places do not include places in childminder settings, as the Care Inspectorate do not publish age disaggregated data for childminders.

^21. According to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), which measures deprivation based on the following indicators: geography; population; income; employment; health; education, skills, and training; geographic access to services; crime; housing.