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 was little understanding of how best to integrate these services or the role that each of these services already play in supporting families. This project aimed 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 was a lack of clarity on how these services do, or should, integrate. This project, delivered in partnership with ISOS Partnership, ran from mid-2025 to early 2026 to explore how to best integrate these services. The work focused on England and Scotland, and we drew on lessons from programmes like Flying Start in Wales, where services are more integrated.

We wanted 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 was 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. 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 was little clarity on how these services should integrate, or what is currently happening on the ground. We needed to understand the barriers that prevent more joined-up support for families and what enables it to happen successfully.

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

• Phase 1: We developed a conceptual framework that outlines different ideal models of integration, drawing on existing evidence and conversations with experts.
• Phase 2: We investigated 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 allowed us to explore a range of scenarios and understand the real-world barriers and enablers to integration.
• Phase 3: We brought together our findings to develop a set of feasible recommendations for policymakers, local leaders and services, which we tested and refined with experts.

Read the report: Building bridges