Evidence shows there is positive impact associated with access to high-quality early education and care, be that via a nursery setting or through childcare arrangements fulfilled by friends, family or neighbours. In England and Scotland, joining up both early education or learning and childcare with family support services could significantly improve children's outcomes.

However, there is little understanding of how best to integrate these services or the role that each of these services already play in supporting families. This project aims to explore how these vital services are currently and can be better integrated to best support children and families.

The UK government is making significant investments in both early education and care (ECEC) in England or early learning and care (ELC) in Scotland, and family support services. Evidence shows that both can be effective at reducing educational inequalities. We believe that by harnessing ECEC in England / ELC in Scotland as the daily frontline service for many families with young children, and integrating these two key parts of the early years system, we can achieve a greater positive impact on children’s development and play a role in breaking the link between family background and life chances

However, in England and Scotland, there is currently a lack of clarity on how these services do, or should, integrate. This project, delivered in partnership with ISOS Partnership, will run from mid-2025 to early 2026 to explore how to best integrate these services. While the work will focus on England and Scotland, we will draw on lessons from programmes like Flying Start in Wales, where services are more integrated.

We want to build on the work we’ve done in our new era of integration in the early years project to create a clear picture of what a well-integrated early education and family support system looks like and how it can be achieved.

Our goal is to provide a practical roadmap with recommendations for national and local government leaders, as well as early education service providers in England and Scotland. This will equip them to better connect their services, ultimately improving outcomes for young children and narrowing educational inequalities.

Evidence shows that high-quality ECEC in England or ELC in Scotland improves children’s educational outcomes, especially for disadvantaged children. Similarly, family support services, such as Sure Start, have been proven to be a cost-effective way to reduce educational inequalities. Our hypothesis is that these two crucial parts of the early years system need to work together to have the maximum impact.

The problem is that in England and Scotland, there is little clarity on how these services should integrate, or what is currently happening on the ground. We need to understand the barriers that prevent more joined-up support for families and what enables it to happen successfully.

This project is being delivered in partnership with ISOS Partnership, specialists in services for children and families. Our work is structured in three phases:

• Phase 1: We will develop a conceptual framework that outlines different ideal models of integration, drawing on existing evidence and conversations with experts.
• Phase 2: We will investigate the current landscape in England and Scotland. This will involve surveying local authorities, putting out an open call for examples of good practice from ECEC or ELC providers, and conducting in-depth case studies in different local authorities. This detailed fieldwork will allow us to explore a range of scenarios and understand the real-world barriers and enablers to integration.
• Phase 3: We will bring together our findings to develop a set of feasible recommendations for policymakers, local leaders and services, which we will test and refine with experts.

If you have any questions about the project or would like to participate in our research, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].