School age childcare
Eradicating child poverty and growing the economy are two of our priorities.
This is why we have committed to building a system of accessible and affordable school age childcare (SACC), targeted at the children and families who need it most.
This commitment is set out in the school age childcare delivery framework.
We are working to make sure a future SACC offer meets the needs of children, families and childcare providers.
This includes:
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defining regulatory frameworks that support quality, innovation and growth in the sector
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strengthening relationships with local government partners
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designing a digital service that will give children and families more choice and flexibility in managing their childcare
We are funding work in communities to provide free or subsidised school age childcare to families who need it most. Our delivery projects help us learn what works locally and identify the changes needed nationally to deliver our vision.
Our vision for Scotland is a system of accessible and affordable childcare for primary school children from low-income households. This will provide care before school, after school and during the holidays with access to healthy and nutritious food.
In developing a new system, we will build on the lessons learned from the expansion to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare (ELC). Best Start, our early learning and school age childcare strategic plan, sets out our strategic priorities across all childcare offers.
People-centred and place-based approach
Our approach to designing a school age childcare system is people-centred and place-based. This means we design the right services and the right support in the right way.
This is consistent with the Scottish approach to service design, which supports people in Scotland to actively take part in defining, designing and delivering their public services. One example of this is the co-design work we carried out with children to create the National Children’s Charter for School Age Childcare.
SACC national children's charter
The National Children's Charter for School Age Childcare in Scotland was published in 2023. It was co-designed by A Place in Childhood (APiC), the Scottish Government, and children from five schools and one young carers group in Dingwall, Dundee, Alloa, Mid Yell and Aberdeen.
As well as contributing to the national charter, children in each location made their own local charter. You can find the local charters, along with the Gaelic translation of the national charter and poster, on our website.
We are gathering examples of how the charter is being used by school age childcare providers and others. Email schoolagechildcare@gov.scot if you have information to share.
SACC delivery projects
Access to Childcare Fund
The Access to Childcare Fund launched in 2020 to test new models of school age childcare that were accessible and affordable for families on low incomes. We have invested over £4.5 million to deliver free or subsidised childcare for families most at risk of poverty, including those with specialist support needs.
Ipsos published an evaluation report of phase 2 of the Access to Childcare Fund projects. The projects show the important role school age childcare plays in supporting children's health, improving household income and boosting overall family wellbeing.
Early adopter communities (EACs)
There are childcare early adopter communities in:
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Clackmannanshire
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Dundee
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Glasgow
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Inverclyde
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Fife
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Shetland
These EACs are working in a people-centred and place-based way in 23 communities, testing how childcare can help tackle child poverty. We have invested in these projects since October 2022.
The EACs are expanding access to affordable childcare for low-income families with children from early years through to the end of primary school. We are designing, testing and evaluating new types of childcare delivery. Our future school age childcare system will build on this learning.
In 2026 to 2027, we will continue to fund all EAC projects and will publish the second part of an evaluation of the projects in autumn 2026. The first Early Adopter Communities process evaluation was published in 2024.
Scottish Football Association Extra Time programme
The Extra Time programme launched in April 2023. It aims to better understand how after-school and holiday activity clubs can improve outcomes for families on low incomes - helping parents and carers enter and sustain employment and training, and reducing inequalities in access to children's activities.
The Scottish FA’s annual impact report in 2024, shows that funded activity services which support parents and carers around the school day can remove a key barrier preventing parents - particularly those on low incomes - from accessing and sustaining employment and training.
In 2025, we announced an increased investment of £5.5 million for 2025 to 2026, expanding delivery from 31 clubs to 53. The programme now provides around 5,000 children and their families - those most at risk of poverty - with access to vital services.
The Scottish FA's Extra Time evaluation report explores emerging themes from the 2024 annual impact report. These include the impact of activity services on school attendance and attainment, tackling child poverty, and improving child health and wellbeing.
Building on the success of the Extra Time programme, we will invest a further £2.5 million to test a 3pm to 6pm model of activities clubs.
Bright Start Breakfasts
We are investing £3 million to expand and improve breakfast club provision across Scotland through our Bright Start Breakfasts fund. Funding has been awarded to 490 breakfast clubs across local government, private and third sector providers. This has established 146 new clubs, creating almost 9,000 breakfast club places and supporting up to 20,000 children in the 2025 to 2026 academic year.
Our investment will allow us to evaluate delivery and support the expansion of national provision. This forms part of our ongoing work to build a school age childcare system in Scotland. A further £3 million was announced in the 2026 to 2027 budget to continue Bright Start Breakfasts for an additional year, as a transition to the national breakfast offer.
National breakfast club offer
We are investing £15 million in 2026 to 2027, and £44 million per year after that, to provide a universal national breakfast club offer for primary and special school children. This will give access to a nutritious breakfast and help parents get to work.
Regulatory change
We have been looking at regulatory changes that could better support the school age childcare sector to thrive. We want to expand the school age childcare sector to make it easier for parents and carers to access the childcare they need.
In response to feedback from the SACC sector and evidence gathered from a feasibility study in 2024 to 2025, we plan to change how the sector is defined and regulated. Better-suited regulation will help services operate more sustainably and lead to a review of job roles and qualifications for the SACC workforce, making it a more attractive area for career development.
Our Legal definition for school age childcare consultation is seeking views to help us explore potential changes to the regulation of school age childcare services. The consultation closes on 18 May 2026.
SACC newsletters
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