The Foundation Years benchmarking tool contains statistical information on the key indicators of early education services. It covers all local authorities in England and can be used to compare an individual local authority to other authorities throughout the country.
Local authorities can use the tool to compare their local systems and outcomes against those of other authorities. They can use these comparisons to support improvements in fairness and increase value for money.
Early years providers, parents and others can use the tool to better understand the early education system in their area and decisions taken by local authorities, and to compare these to other local authorities.
Before using the tool, it may be beneficial to read the benchmarking user guide, which explains how to use the tool and what the data means. A full explanation of the methodology behind the data used can be found in the accompanying technical note.
On 27 November 2012 the following data strands were updated: funding, quality, and child development. New data on the free entitlement for two-year-olds and quality data on Sure Start Children’s Centres has also been included.
In the main spreadsheet you can view headline data for each of the authorities. The information is split into five main areas, which can be viewed in greater detail:
