School-based nurseries

Infrastructure and Construction

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £369.9m
Published schedule: 01/08/2024 – 28/09/2029
NISTA delivery confidence: Not disclosed
Senior responsible owner: Chris Armstrong-Stacey

What the project is for

The school-based nurseries programme was established in August 2024 and is already delivering on our commitment to create tens of thousands of places in school-based nurseries, helping more families access funded childcare and giving children the best start in life. The programme is already delivering 300 new or expanded SBNs through phase 1 of the programme, providing funding directly to schools (£37m CDEL). The programme has secured funding (£367m CDEL) at the Spending Review to continue the programme in further phases. Phase 2 is also providing funding directly to 331 schools to open new or expanded SBNs during academic year 2026-27. In phase 3 local authorities will be invited to develop multi-year funding proposals to deliver SBNs between 2027-30, with places available from September 2027.

Departmental delivery commentary

The programme’s Confidence Assessment is Amber. The programme has made strong progress this year, with the successful launch of Phase 1 with it's £37m of funding, delivering over two thirds of it's 300 projects and being on track for all Phase 1 projects to have delivered by March 2027 as planned. Phase 2 has also successfully completed announcement, assessment, moderation and launch ahead of the Easter holidays, with £45m awarded to 331 schools. Phase 3 guidance has been published and early feedback has been mostly positive, with strong Local Authority engagement through recent webinars. The pace and scale of delivery remains challenging, and we will continue to deliver against a backdrop of uncertainty on the number and scale of Phase 3 projects until late in 2026.

Schedule

The programme's end date is 28/09/2029. This is primarily due to the following factors, the programme comprises multiple delivery phases through a mix of delivery models, with projects able to open until September 2029.

Cost

Whole life costs have been developed based on committed spending thus far through agreement at spending review.

Benefits

The monetised benefits for the programme has an estimate value over 60 years and are based on the positive impacts on attainment Early Years provision has at KS4 (quantified in terms of increased lifetime earnings) by creating additional nursery settings and place. The programme includes a range of non-monetised benefits, including more children from disadvantaged areas and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) accessing early education, contributing to improved school readiness and early development outcomes. Parents who access and use the nursery may be able to enter the workforce, increase their part time-hours or have increased free time. The programme has taken a test and learn approach, to ensure that at each stage of expanded delivery, we have been able to deliver more efficiently and effectively, refining our approach throughout. The lessons we have learned in doing this continue to be shared with other programmes within the department to enhance outcomes.