Skip to main content
Guidance

Early years funding benchmarking tool

Information on indicators of local authority early education services, and ways to compare an individual local authority to other local authorities.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
14 March 2014
Last updated:
16 December 2025
Show all updates

  1. Updated the benchmarking tool and the accompanying guide, in line with 2025 to 2026 requirements.

  2. Routine annual update to the benchmarking tool, and the technical note and user guide. We have removed ‘early years funding proforma’.

  3. Routine annual update to the 'Early years funding benchmarking tool', 'Early years funding proforma' and 'Early years benchmarking: technical note and user guide'.

  4. Routine annual update to the 'Early years funding benchmarking tool', 'Early years funding proforma' and 'Early years benchmarking: technical note and user guide'

  5. Routine annual update to the 'Early years funding benchmarking tool', 'Early years funding proforma' and 'Early years benchmarking: technical note and user guide'.

  6. Made routine annual update to the 'Early years funding benchmarking tool', 'Early years funding proforma' and 'Early years benchmarking: technical note and user guide'.

  7. Updated technical note, user guide, benchmarking tool, and proforma documents to reflect information on projected local authority spending in the 2018 to 2019 financial year.

  8. Updated technical note, user guide, benchmarking tool, and proforma documents to reflect information on projected local authority spending in the 2017 to 2018 financial year.

  9. Updated 'Early years funding benchmarking tool'; 'Early years funding proforma'; 'User guide' and 'Technical note' documents with information for the 2016 to 2017 financial year.

  10. Updated technical note, user guide, benchmarking tool, and proforma documents to reflect information on projected local authority spending in the 2015 to 2016 financial year.

  11. Updated user guide and technical note with accessible versions.

  12. Updated early years benchmarking tool, user guide and technical note.

  13. Updated guidance documents, early years funding benchmarking tool and the early years proforma.

  14. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Early years funding benchmarking tool

546 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email alternative.formats@education.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Early years benchmarking: technical note and user guide

PDF, 1.29 MB, 17 pages

Details

The early years funding benchmarking tool covers all local authorities in England. This shows projected spending in the 2025 to 2026 financial year to provide early entitlement places for children aged 9 months to 4 years old.

Local authorities can use this tool to compare their local systems and outcomes against other local authorities. They can use these comparisons to make them fairer and increase value for money.

Early years providers, parents and others can use it to:

  • understand the early education system in their area
  • understand local authorities’ decisions
  • compare their local authority to others

The technical note and user guide explains the methodology behind the data, and how to use the tool.

The document ‘Early years funding benchmarking tool’ is not accessible because it includes macros, filter buttons and dropdown menus. This means it does not meet web content accessibility guidelines success criteria 1.3.1 on info and relationships, 1.3.2 on meaningful sequence and 1.3.6 on identify purpose.

Sign up for emails or print this page