Increasing the early years pupil premium and a new qualified teaching status for the early years have been recommended in a Labour-commissioned review, Tes can reveal.

The early years review was carried out by former chief inspector of schools Sir David Bell, whose appointment was announced by Labour last October.

Sir David was commissioned to review eligibility for, and access to, affordable education and childcare provision, along with options for increasing the quality of early years provision and a long-term plan for the early years workforce.

A group of experts fed into the review, and Sir David set out recommendations in an unpublished letter sent before the July general election to then shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson, seen by Tes.

In the letter, Sir David called for an incoming Labour government to commit more funding for primaries to deliver the party’s school-based nursery plan.

He also warned that the Conservatives’ childcare expansion policy was “heading to the rocks”.

Approached by Tes, Sir David said his work had been “overtaken by the unexpected calling” of the election. With Bridget Phillipson becoming education secretary, “it made sense for my project to come to an end”, he said, adding: “This means that there will be no published output.”

“I have now concluded my work, but it was good to have the opportunity to contribute - even in a modest way - to the Labour Party’s thinking when in opposition,” he said.

His main findings are below.

Early years strategy needed in first year

Sir David, vice-chancellor and chief executive of the University of Sunderland, is a former primary teacher and former Department for Education permanent secretary. He also served as Ofsted’s chief inspector of schools in the early 2000s.

In the letter seen by Tes, Sir David urged the party to develop and publish a strategy for early childhood education and care in its first year of government if elected.

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His recommendations for the strategy include:

• Boost availability, affordability and accessibility of childcare
• Increase the early years pupil premium
• Develop a new 0-7 qualified teacher status (QTS) qualification
• Further regulation over the early years market

Sir David wrote that he was aware of the country’s “current economic circumstances” and that an incoming government would “inherit major problems across public services”.

“I have sought to bear these constraints in mind,” he continued, “whilst recognising that a new government, especially one which recognises the vital importance of the early years, will want to build an ambitious programme of reform.”

More funding needed to deliver nursery plan

One of Labour’s key education pledges is to convert over 3,000 spare classrooms into nurseries, to be funded by ending tax breaks for private schools.

Sir David said this policy could be enacted either through school-led nurseries or through schools partnering with local private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector providers.

But schools would “reasonably expect some support with capital funding costs” to adapt their facilities to provide nursery provision, Sir David wrote.

Further considerations for this potential government policy include “aligning nursery and school admissions” and “considering how best to deploy suitably qualified staff”.

Increase early years pupil premium

Sir David also recommended that an incoming Labour government should increase the early years pupil premium, which is currently worth up to £388 per year.

However, he said this should be “done gradually” and alongside a wider plan to “build the evidence on effective interventions”.

The focus should be on “boosting early development” and “narrowing the early attainment gap” to ensure the additional funding supports improved outcomes for children.

An increase in the premium should also come with a “light-touch reporting requirement”, Sir David continued, whereby settings must identify “how they are spending the premium to support the outcomes of children who attract it”.

Childcare expansion policy ‘heading to the rocks’

Sir David warned that the previous government’s commitment to 30 hours of government-funded childcare from September 2025 will “fundamentally shift the focus” of the early years system by expanding the number of children under 3 who will be in formal childcare.

Labour has confirmed that it will continue the former government’s childcare expansion plan.

The Conservative government announced an expansion of free childcare to all children under 5 in England in the 2023 spring budget.

But a report by the National Audit Office earlier this year revealed that the Conservative government did not carry out a proposed pilot of the 30-hours expansion before continuing with the full roll-out.

A DfE spokesperson said at the time that the government had taken “decisive steps to prepare the sector for the next phases”, including providing “£100 million of capital funding to help expand or refurbish facilities”.

Sir David said he was “surprised that a major policy initiative such as the expansion of childcare entitlements” was not subject to “better and more rigorous thinking” from government ministers.

He added that this decision showed that “ministers crossed their fingers and hoped for the best without a clear plan”.

The former Ofsted chief said that he was “concerned” that the Labour government, which was not yet in power, would be left to “pick up the pieces” of the pledge and would be “inheriting a policy that is heading to the rocks”.

Earlier this month, the government announced that eligible working parents of children over 9 months old will be able to access 15 hours of government-funded early education per week.

Speaking at an event in London yesterday, Ms Phillipson said the childcare expansion “won’t be easy” and that the government will be open about the “scale of the challenge” to roll out this commitment in full.

New early years teaching qualification needed

Advocating for early years staff “loudly and publicly” would be an “essential first step for an incoming Labour government”, Sir David wrote.

“I have received vivid and compelling evidence of an underpaid and undervalued workforce, with significant shortages in key areas, as well-qualified staff seek employment elsewhere,” he said.

However, he recognised that “significant injections of further funding will be difficult” and the focus should be on funding that is “already flowing into the system”.

He further recommended a simplification of qualifications for the early years, and to boost the quality and consistency of training available.

An incoming Labour government should also look to “develop a new 0-7 qualified teacher status (QTS) qualification” and remove funding for qualifications that “do not provide a stepping stone onto full qualifications”.

Early years key to attainment-gap strategy

“Any strategy to narrow the attainment gap must have intervention in the early years at its heart,” Sir David wrote.

The disadvantage gap has widened post-pandemic in almost all regions, from the early years to key stage 4, according to findings by the Education Policy Institute.

Sir David said that he shares concerns along with others in the sector that the further extension of funded hours to children of working families only “risks widening the gap between the most disadvantaged children and their peers”.

On special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), Sir David called for an incoming government to work with local authorities to make application processes for SEND funding “more consistent across geographic boundaries”.

Owing to continuing underspends in disability access funding, Sir David also recommended a review of that funding, and suggested that guidance should be given to early years providers to ensure they are compliant with the Equality Act.

More regulation over early years market needed

Sir David supported “better targeted and proportionate regulation” by Ofsted and other accountability bodies in the early years sector.

Specifically, he said that a future Labour government should strengthen financial oversight of childcare providers, and “consider the regulatory pressures posed by the growth of childcare chains which can become ‘too big to fail’”.

“Caring for children should be done in the best interests of every child, not as a route to securing excess profit,” Sir David said, adding that reform in this area would be “widely welcomed”.

He further advised that an incoming government should work with local authorities to pilot options for strengthening local government’s role in market shaping, but that “current limitations on their capacity” should be recognised.

On childminding, Sir David also advised Labour to carry out an immediate review of requirements to enter the childminding market - but with “children’s needs being paramount”.

The Department for Education confirmed that Sir David’s findings would “inform” its approach to its early years reforms but did not commit to publishing them, adding that it would “set out more detail about our plans in due course”.

“Our clear intention is to reform the early years system as the foundation of opportunity and life chances for children,” the department said.