Digital Education Resource Archive

Apprenticeship Assessment Qualification Level Guidance : Published 3 December 2025

Allen, Rebecca

Ford, Iain

Jerrim, John

Menzies, Loic

Sims, Sam

Sonmez, Burak

Wespieser, Karen

Evaluating teacher recruitment strategies : Using fully randomised paired conjoint experiments : Evaluation report : October 2025

Review of the school funding formula : Summary of the findings from the school funding formula review and recommendations : Last updated 7 February 2025

FE ITE bursary funding manual, 2025 to 2026 : Published 21 March 2025

Transparency data
Estimated apprenticeships
additional achievements by
region
Published 3 June 2025
Applies to England
Overview
This page provides the background methodology on the estimated impact on
apprenticeships achievement volumes following the change in English and maths
policy effective from 11 February 2025.
Apprentices who began their apprenticeship training when aged 19 or over will no
longer be subject to the mandatory requirement to study towards and achieve
Menu
Home Education, training and skills Further and higher education, skills and vocational training
Apprenticeships, traineeships and internships
Estimated apprenticeships additional achievements by region
Department 
for Education
Contents
Overview
Analysis
Data Source
Methodology
Assumptions and limitations
English and maths, usually to level 2. This applies to new starts and existing learners
on programme.
More details on the change are:
on page 10 of the apprenticeships funding rules 2024 to 2025 summary of
changes
in the latest funding rules
Analysis
Estimated additional apprenticeship achievements
volumes due to change in requirement for learners to
study English or maths alongside their
apprenticeship
It is estimated that there will be 6,800 to 10,200 additional achievements per
academic year based on apprenticeship leavers aged 19 and over in the 2023 to
2024 academic year who studied English or maths alongside their apprenticeship.
Table 1: Estimated additional apprenticeship achievements due to change in
requirement for learners to study English or maths alongside their
apprenticeship, split by learner region, per academic year
Region Low estimate High estimate
Total 6,800 10,200
East Midlands 630 940
East of England 800 1,200
London 830 1,240
North East 360 550
North West 900 1,350
South East 1,180 1,770
South West 750 1,120
West Midlands 800 1,190
Yorkshire and the Humber 510 770
Outside of England and unknown 40 50
Data Source
Apprenticeship achievement rates where the learner
is studying English or maths alongside their
apprenticeship
The modelling to estimate additional achievements is based on the latest available
apprenticeship achievement rates for learners who studied English or Maths
alongside their apprenticeship. Apprenticeship achievement rates are published as
part of the Apprenticeships accredited official statistics.
The specific regional achievement rates for 2023 to 2024 underpinning this analysis
are available in the ‘additional supporting files’ section of the apprenticeships official
statistics on Explore Education Statistics (EES). They are in the file ‘apprenticeship
achievement rates – indicative rates for 19+ English and/or maths learners by
region’.
The data source file shows indicative qualification achievement rates (QARs) data
for apprentice learners aged 19 and over who studied English or maths alongside
their apprenticeship. Rates are provided by region.
QARs use individualised learner record (ILR) data to calculate what proportion of
apprentice learners successfully achieve their apprenticeship. The result is shown
as a percentage figure.
In the 2023 to 2024 academic year, 65,700 out of 223,680 apprentice leavers aged
19 and over (29%) studied English or maths alongside their apprenticeship. Based
on QARs, their indicative achievement rate was 48.2%. This is 17.3 percentage
points lower than the rate for apprentices who did not study English or maths, which
was 65.5%.
Methodology
Estimation approach
To estimate the number of additional apprenticeships achievements that might have
occurred if the English and maths requirement had been removed in the 2023 to
2024 academic year, the following steps were taken.
Using academic year 2023 to 2024 qualification achievement rate (QAR) data, the
number of apprenticeship leavers aged 19 and over in each region who studied
English or maths alongside their apprenticeship were identified.
Two estimates were calculated for each region - a low and a high - to show a
possible range of outcomes. This range accounts for the possibility that lower
achievement rates among these learners might not be caused only by studying
English or maths. Other contributing factors could also play a role. Therefore,
removing the English or maths requirement might not fully eliminate the achievement
gap.
The low estimate assumes that 60% of the gap in achievement rates would be
closed. Nationally, this would increase the achievement rate of this group from
48.2% to 58.6%. This is equivalent to assuming that:
60% of the learner cohort would now achieve at the same rate as those who did
not study English or maths
40% of the learner cohort would still achieve at the lower rate seen in those who
did study English or maths
The high estimate assumes that 90% of the gap in achievement rates would be
closed. Nationally, this would increase the achievement rate of this group from
48.2% to 63.8%. This is equivalent to assuming that:
90% of the learner cohort would now achieve at the same rate as those who did
not study English or maths
10% of the learner cohort would still achieve at the lower rate seen in those who
did study English or maths
These assumptions were applied to the identified group of learners to estimate how
many might have achieved their apprenticeship if the policy change had been in
place during the 2023 to 2024 academic year. The estimated achievement volumes
were then compared to the actual figures to determine the potential increase.
Assumptions and limitations
The following assumptions apply to this analysis.
The estimate is indicative, developed in 2025 based on the latest achievement data
available (2023 to 2024 academic year, published March 2025).
We have assumed, for each region, that there will be a similar volume of
apprenticeship leavers that do not have English or maths prior attainment at level 1
and level 2 in future academic years as there were in the 2023 to 2024 academic
year.
We have assumed that English or maths requirements are often a key reason for not
achieving the apprenticeship, but this is not necessarily the only reason for the lower
achievement rates for this group. This assumption is supported by:
the apprenticeship evaluation 2023 learner and non-completer surveys research
report – which says, on page 166: “A quarter of these [English or maths] non-
completers (25%) reported that not enjoying or wanting to study these subjects
had contributed to not completing their course”
wider qualitative evidence, referenced in the 2024 Gatsby Foundation research
report on apprenticeship completion, which points to the significant role that
English and maths requirements play in withdrawals
Assuming that 25% of English or maths apprentices do achieve in future, this is
equivalent to 75% of these learners achieving at the same rate as those who did not
study English or maths.
As this remains uncertain, particularly given the often overlapping and associated
Help us improve GOV.UK
To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more
about your visit today. Please fill in this survey (opens
in a new tab).
Services and information
Benefits
Births, death, marriages and care
Business and self-employed
Childcare and parenting
Citizenship and living in the UK
Crime, justice and the law
Disabled people
Government
activity
Departments
News
Guidance and regulation
Research and statistics
Policy papers and
consultations
Transparency
drivers of withdrawals, low (60%) and high (90%) scenarios were created for the
range estimate.
The estimated volumes do not include any additional participation in the future that
could increase achievement volumes from potential apprentices:
who may not have chosen to do an apprenticeship in the past due to the former
English and maths policy
where employers may change their recruitment criteria due to the change in the
English and maths policy
Back to top
Driving and transport
Education and learning
Employing people
Environment and countryside
Housing and local services
Money and tax
Passports, travel and living abroad
Visas and immigration
Working, jobs and pensions
How government works
Get involved
Help  Privacy  Cookies  Accessibility statement  Contact
Terms and conditions  Rhestr o Wasanaethau Cymraeg
Government Digital Service
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where
otherwise stated
© Crown copyright


Estimated apprenticeships additional achievements by region : Published 3 June 2025

Sibieta, Luke

Snape, Darcey

Tahir, Imran

Schools and colleges in the 2025 Spending Review

Policy paper
Official development
assistance (ODA): DfE
spending statement
Published 16 June 2025
Applies to England
DfE funding in relation to ODA
ODA is defined as resource flows to developing countries and multilateral
organisations, which are provided by official agencies, like the UK Government, or
their executive agencies.
DfE calculates its ODA spending using the Organisation of Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) definitions of ODA.
This principally relates to education spend on asylum seeker applicant children for
the first 12 months after their asylum application is lodged, who are either eligible for
Menu
Home Entering and staying in the UK Refugees, asylum and human rights Asylum for children
Official development assistance: DfE spending statement
Department 
for Education
Contents
DfE funding in relation to ODA
DfE funding policy for asylum seeking children
More information
early years funding or are of primary and secondary school age.
When producing its ODA spending figure, DfE estimates how much of the general
revenue funding relates to asylum seeker applicant children who are attending a
school or an early years setting.
In broad terms, the DfE ODA estimate is derived by taking data on the number of
ODA children eligible for education support, which comes from the Home Office,
and multiplying these by estimates of the unit costs for each phase of education.
DfE funding policy for asylum seeking
children
DfE does not have a separate funding stream relating to the education of asylum
seeker or other ODA-eligible children.
It is our policy that such children who attend a school or early years setting in
England attract funding in the same way as all other children. For schools, this
funding is allocated through the schools national funding formula and other grants
like the pupil premium. As DfE does not have a fixed budget for ODA, the
department’s ODA spending depends heavily on how many ODA-eligible children
are in the country, which will vary from year to year.
This approach ensures that asylum seeker children attract both the basic per pupil
funding amount as other children, including funding relating to their needs and
characteristics, like:
pupils eligible for free school meals
pupils with English as an additional language
socio-economic deprivation.
It is for individual schools to decide how to use their funding to best meet the needs
of all their pupils.
More information
Help us improve GOV.UK
To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more
about your visit today. Please fill in this survey (opens
in a new tab).
Services and information
Benefits
Births, death, marriages and care
Business and self-employed
Childcare and parenting
Citizenship and living in the UK
Crime, justice and the law
Disabled people
Driving and transport
Education and learning
Government
activity
Departments
News
Guidance and regulation
Research and statistics
Policy papers and
consultations
Transparency
How government works
Get involved
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has included
estimates for the DfE’s contribution to UK ODA in its statistics on international
development since 2015.
There’s separate information, published by the FCDO about the official development
assistance strategy since 2015.
Back to top
Employing people
Environment and countryside
Housing and local services
Money and tax
Passports, travel and living abroad
Visas and immigration
Working, jobs and pensions
Help  Privacy  Cookies  Accessibility statement  Contact
Terms and conditions  Rhestr o Wasanaethau Cymraeg
Government Digital Service
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where
otherwise stated
© Crown copyright


Official development assistance (ODA) : DfE spending statement : Published 16 June 2025

This is the main findings report for the childcare providers and inspections
as at 31 March 2025 release. The following are also available:
underlying data
methodology
pre-release access list
Summary
This release includes:
the number of Ofsted-registered childcare providers on 31 March 2025 and
their most recent inspection outcomes
data on inspections and regulatory activity carried out until 31 March 2025
Official Statistics
Main findings: childcare providers
and inspections as at 31 March 2025
Published 27 June 2025
Applies to England
Menu
Home Parenting, childcare and children's services Childcare and early years Providing childcare
Performance and inspection of childcare providers Childcare providers and inspections as at 31 March 2025
Contents
Summary
Summary of findings
Introduction
Providers, places and
registers
Inspections and regulatory
activity between 1 September
2024 and 31 March 2025
Most recent inspections of
providers on the EYR
Childminder agencies
Early years provision in the
schools sector
Notes
Glossary
Further information
Annex: data tables for figures
Summary of findings
On 31 March 2025:
60,400 childcare providers were registered with Ofsted, down by 1,370
(2%) since 31 March 2024. Most of this decline was due to a fall in the
number of childminders
the number of childminders registered with Ofsted had decreased by
1,250 (5%) since 31 March 2024, to 25,300 childminders. The
percentage decline seen was in line with the previous financial year
1.29 million childcare places were offered by providers registered on
the Early Years Register (EYR), up by 17,400 (1%) since 31 March
2024. Most of this increase was due to a rise in the number of places
offered by childcare on non-domestic premises providers
98% of childcare providers had been judged good or outstanding at their
most recent inspection, an increase of less than 1 percentage point
since 31 March 2024
Introduction
The early years and childcare sector is primarily made up of private nurseries, pre-
schools and childminders. The majority of childcare provision is registered directly
with Ofsted, and the aggregated figures represent this. Data on provision
registered with childminder agencies can be found in the childminder agencies
section of this page.
In this publication, we refer to 4 types of early years provision:
Childminders
These are people who look after children for payment or reward.
Childminders have the option to register either with Ofsted or with a
childminder agency.
In this report, ‘childminders’ includes both childminders with and without
domestic premises; they are called ‘childminders’ and ‘childminders
without domestic premises’ respectively in data files.
Childcare on non-domestic premises
These are nurseries, pre-schools, holiday clubs and other group-based
settings.
Home childcarers
These are individuals who care for children wholly or mainly in the child’s
own home (for example, nannies).
Childcare on domestic premises
These are providers where 4 or more people look after children together in
a home that is not the child’s. Providers of childcare on domestic premises
have the option to register either with Ofsted or with a childminder agency.
Further information about provider types is available in the glossary.
Childcare in early years is also provided in the schools sector. It is offered in
state-funded schools and independent schools. For more information, see the
early years provision in the schools sector section of this page.
Providers, places and registers
Number of providers
There were 60,400 childcare providers registered with Ofsted on 31 March
2025, down by 1,370 (2%) since last year.
The decrease in the number of providers in 2024–25 is consistent with the
previous financial year (2023–24).
Figure 1: Childcare providers registered with Ofsted as at 31 March 2025,
by provider type
See Notes for rounding guidelines. 
View data in an accessible table format.
Joiners and leavers in the childcare sector over
time
The number of active providers on our registers has been falling since before
March 2020. This is because more providers are leaving the childcare sector than
joining (see Figure 2) and is mainly due to a fall in the number of childminders
[footnote 1].
In 2024–25, 7,460 childcare providers left the sector and 6,090 joined, giving a
net decrease of 1,370 providers. Most of this decline was due to a fall in the
number of childminders.
In 2024–25, 1,620 childminders joined Ofsted’s registers while 2,870 left, giving a
net decrease of 1,250 (5%). Although more childminders joined and more left
during 2023–24 (1,960 joining and 3,290 leaving respectively), the net percentage
decrease was similar at 1,340 (5%).
The number of childcare on non-domestic premises providers registered has
increased by 470 (2%) since 31 March 2024.
Figure 2: Joiners and leavers in the childcare sector, by financial year
Most leavers are provider resignations, and most joiners are new provider registrations. Some will be
providers moving registers from the EYR to the Childcare Register (CR) or resigning from one register but
remaining on the other. 
View data in an accessible table format.
Places
On 31 March 2025, there were 1.29 million childcare places offered by
providers registered on the EYR, up by 17,400 (1%) since last year.
1.13 million of these childcare places were offered by providers of
childcare on non-domestic premises, up by 26,100 (2%) since last year.
Data on places is reported for the 46,900 providers registered on the EYR and is
first gathered at registration and updated at inspection.
The number of childcare places has not changed at the same rate as the number
of providers. This is because the declining number of providers is mostly due to
the falling number of childminders, and childminders offer fewer childcare places
than other providers on average. While the number of providers has decreased by
2% since 31 March 2024, the number of places has increased by 1%.
For methodological notes on places data, see the methodology and quality report
that accompanies this release.
Figure 3: Number of childcare places offered by providers on the EYR as
at 31 March 2025, by provider type
See Notes for rounding guidelines. 
Places include children up to age 7 where providers are registered on both the EYR and the CR. 
View data in an accessible table format.
Registers
On 31 March 2025, 46,900 (78%) of Ofsted-registered childcare providers
were on the EYR. The remaining 22% were only registered on the CR.
Childcare providers can be registered on one or more of the following registers:
Early Years Register (EYR)
Childcare Register (CR), which is divided into 2 parts:
compulsory
voluntary
Further information about these registers is provided in the glossary.
Inspections and regulatory activity
between 1 September 2024 and 31
March 2025
Around 5,660 events were full inspections of providers registered on the
EYR. The remaining 930 inspections of providers registered on the EYR
were inspections of out-of-school settings or of providers with no children
on roll at the time of inspection.
Figure 4: Inspections and regulatory activity between 1 September 2024
and 31 March 2025
See Notes for rounding guidelines. 
Our agreement with the government is to inspect 10% of providers on the CR each financial year. 
The regulatory events include face-to-face events as well as remote events via telephone call. 
View data in an accessible table format.
Outcomes of full EYR inspections between 1
September 2024 and 31 March 2025
Of the 5,660 full inspections of providers registered on the EYR carried
out since 1 September 2024, 91% resulted in a judgement of good or
outstanding.
Of the inspections that were previously judged requires improvement or
inadequate, 81% improved to good or outstanding at their next full
inspection.
Key judgements
As part of a full inspection under the education inspection framework (EIF), an
early years provider is graded on 4 key judgements:
quality of education
behaviour and attitudes
personal development
leadership and management
Of the full EYR inspections carried out since 1 September 2024, 91% resulted in
a judgement of either good or outstanding overall. All these inspections were
good or outstanding for their quality of education and behaviour and attitudes.
Figure 5: Overall effectiveness and key judgement outcomes of full EYR
inspections carried out between 1 September 2024 and 31 March 2025
Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100. 
View data in an accessible table format.
Providers’ inspection outcomes are likely to vary, depending on their previous
overall effectiveness judgement. Providers that were previously judged good or
outstanding were more likely to receive a good or outstanding judgement at their
next inspection. Therefore, the overall effectiveness profile of providers may vary
year on year, depending on which have been selected for inspection in the year to
date.
Of the full EYR inspections carried out, 1,460 (26%) were first inspections, and
490 (9%) were inspections of providers previously judged requires improvement
or inadequate.
Safeguarding
Of the 5,660 full EYR inspections carried out since 1 September 2024,
97% resulted in a judgement of effective for safeguarding.
While inspectors do not give a separate grade for safeguarding practice, there is
a written judgement in the inspection report on whether arrangements for
safeguarding children are effective.
Most recent inspections of providers on
the EYR
Of the EYR providers that have received a full inspection, 98% were
judged good or outstanding at their most recent one. This is an increase of
less than 1 percentage point since 31 March 2024.
Changes to the proportion of providers judged good and outstanding are
influenced by providers previously judged requires improvement or inadequate:
improving at their next inspection to good or outstanding
ceasing to provide childcare, through resignation or cancellation.
On 31 March 2025, 36,100 (77%) of eligible providers on the EYR had received a
full inspection under the EIF.
Childminder agencies
Childminders and childcare on domestic premises providers can choose to
register with Ofsted directly or to register with a childminder agency.
Ofsted inspects childminder agencies. The childminder agencies are responsible
for carrying out annual quality assurance visits to the providers who are registered
with them.
Childminder agencies are only eligible for inspection when they have providers on
roll. There are only 2 overall effectiveness inspection outcomes: effective and
ineffective. On 31 March 2025, there were 7 childminder agencies registered with
Ofsted. Of these, 4 had providers on roll and were therefore eligible for
inspection. Of these, 3 have been inspected. All were judged to be effective.
Early years provision in the schools
sector
Early years provision can also be offered by state-funded and independent
schools. For more information on school inspections and outcomes, see our
statistics on state-funded school inspections and outcomes. For more information
on non-association independent school inspections and outcomes, see our
statistics on non-association independent schools.
Please note that Ofsted only inspects non-association independent schools. The
Independent Schools Inspectorate inspects association independent schools.
Notes
We explain the main uses of this data and the arrangements for quality assurance,
and provide further contextual information, in the methodology and quality report
accompanying this release.
The methodology and quality report also provides information on the strengths
and limitations of the statistics.
Rounding
Numbers in this report are rounded as follows:
numbers under 100 are not rounded
numbers between 100 and 1,000 are rounded to 2 significant figures
numbers over 1,000 are rounded to 3 significant figures
Education inspection framework
On 1 September 2019, we began inspecting under the EIF. The EIF helps to
support consistency across inspections of early years and childcare providers,
maintained schools, academies, non-association independent schools and further
education and skills providers in England. We evaluate the overall quality and
standards of the early years provision in line with the principles and requirements
of the early years foundation stage statutory framework. Inspectors judge the
overall effectiveness of the early years provision, taking into account 4
judgements:
quality of education
behaviour and attitudes
personal development
effectiveness of leadership and management
Glossary
Definitions of terms are in our statistical glossary.
Further information
We publish the following information on the inspection of early years providers:
early years and childcare statistics
EIF
framework for the regulation of providers on the Childcare Register
Contact for comments or feedback
If you have any comments or feedback on this publication, contact Anita Patel on
03000 130 914 or Anita.Patel@ofsted.gov.uk, or the early years data and analysis
team at childcaredataqueries@ofsted.gov.uk.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the following for their contribution to this statistical release: Richard
Smith, Anna Ruddock, Alison Merrett and Mundeep Gill.
Annex: data tables for figures
This section contains the underlying data in an accessible table format for all
figures.
Data for Figure 1: Childcare providers registered with Ofsted as at 31
March 2025, by provider type
Provider type Number of providers on
31 March 2025
Change since 31
March 2024
Childcare on non-
domestic premises
27,500 +470
Childminders 25,300 -1,250
Home childcarers 7,360 -600
Childcare on domestic
premises
220 +4
See Figure 1.
Data for Figure 2: Joiners and leavers in the childcare sector, by financial
year
Year Joiners Leavers Total number of providers
2020–21 6,550 9,570 72,000
2021–22 6,090 10,100 68,000
2022–23 6,090 10,900 63,200
2023–24 6,630 8,070 61,800
2024–25 6,090 7,460 60,400
See Figure 2.
Data for Figure 3: Number of childcare places offered by providers on the
EYR as at 31 March 2025, by provider type
Provider type Number of places on 31
March 2025
% of total places on
the EYR
All providers 1.29 million 100%
Childcare on non-
domestic premises
1.13 million 88%
Childminders 153,000 12%
Childcare on domestic
premises
5,040 less than 1%
See Figure 3.
Data for Figure 4: Inspections and regulatory activity between 1
September 2024 and 31 March 2025
Activity
type
Number
of
events
Details
EYR
inspections
6,590 5,660 (86%) of these were full inspections. 550 (8%)
were visits to providers providing out-of-school day
care. 380 (6%) were visits to providers with no children
on roll.
CR
inspections
750 Approximately 5 out of 10 of these were visits to home
childcarers.
Registration
visits
1,730 54% of these were visits to prospective childminders
intending to register on the EYR or CR. 28% were
visits to childcare on non-domestic premises
providers. 17% were visits to home childcarers. 1%
were visits to childcare on domestic premises
providers.
Regulatory
events
5,110 62% of these related to childcare on non-domestic
premises providers.
See Figure 4.
Data for Figure 5: Overall effectiveness and key judgement outcomes of
full EYR inspections carried out between 1 September 2024 and 31 March
2025
Judgement
outcome
Number of
inspections
%
providers
judged
outstanding
%
providers
judged
good
% providers
judged
requires
improvement
%
providers
judged
inadequate
Overall
effectiveness
5,660 9 82 5 4
Quality of
education
5,660 9 83 6 3
Behaviour
and attitudes
5,660 10 82 6 3
Personal
development
5,660 9 82 5 4
Effectiveness
of leadership
and
management
5,660 9 82 5 4
See Figure 5.
1. ‘A focus on childminders’, Ofsted, September 2023. ↩
Help us improve GOV.UK
To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your
visit today. Please fill in this survey (opens in a new tab).
Back to top
Services and information
Benefits
Births, death, marriages and care
Business and self-employed
Childcare and parenting
Citizenship and living in the UK
Crime, justice and the law
Disabled people
Driving and transport
Education and learning
Employing people
Environment and countryside
Housing and local services
Money and tax
Passports, travel and living abroad
Visas and immigration
Working, jobs and pensions
Government activity
Departments
News
Guidance and regulation
Research and statistics
Policy papers and consultations
Transparency
How government works
Get involved
Help  Privacy  Cookies  Accessibility statement  Contact  Terms and conditions
Rhestr o Wasanaethau Cymraeg  Government Digital Service
 All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated
© Crown copyright


Main findings : childcare providers and inspections as at 31 March 2025 : Published 27 June 2025

Academic year 2023/24 : Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England

Parent, pupil and learner voice : February 2025

Not a member yet