Scots see childcare costs rise as it halves for toddlers in England

The expansion of childcare entitlement has seen costs for under-threes in England more than halve, while prices in Scotland continue to rise.

In Scotland, parents saw increases of nearly 7% in the cost of part-time nursery places for under-twos and two-year-olds compared to 2024.

The expansion of funded childcare – which was introduced by the Conservative government – began being rolled out in England in April last year for working parents of two-year-olds.

Working parents of children older than nine months south of the border are now able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week, before the full roll-out of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September.

A part-time nursery place (25 hours per week) for a child under two now costs an average of £70.51 per week in England after working-parent entitlements are accounted for – which is down by 56% on 2024.

In Scotland, three to five-year-olds can already get up to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year, regardless of their parents’ working status. This is around 22 hours a week if used all year or 30 hours a week if used only during school term time.

A part-time nursery place for a child under two costs an average of £122.38 per week in Scotland – a 7% rise on 2024.

The research by the Coram Family and Childcare charity – based on surveys from 173 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales between November and February – found that the cost for a part-time nursery place for three-to-four-year-olds in the UK is up by nearly 5% on last year as entitlements for this age group remained the same.