Schools White Paper 2026: What it means for early years settings

There are a lot of strategies, policies and system changes afoot. You’ll be keeping a close eye on what’s published from the DfE, interpreting what that means for your nursery setting. We’re here to help.

In this blog, we’ve condensed the key points covered Schools White Paper (published on the 23^{rd of} February 2026). Summarising the lengthy blueprint for educational change over the next ten years, with an early years lens.

What is the Schools White Paper?

The Schools White Paper was shared in parliament by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, setting out the government’s 10-year plan for the education system in England.

It’s a weighty document over 100 pages long detailing the priorities for change and giving insight into how they intend to make these changes a reality.

Some of what’s mentioned in it, we saw mentioned in the Labour manifesto, and some builds on other recent strategy publications like the Children’s Commissioner’s Report, the Spending Review 2025 and the Best Start in Life Strategy (July 2025) where early years education was pinpointed as the foundation of all lifelong learning.

The White Paper was published alongside a separate consultation: SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First, open for 12-weeks to gather feedback before publishing the final plans (in a similar format to how Ofsted inspection reform was released).

The summary of the White Paper

Three core shifts run through every chapter of the White Paper:

Narrow to broad 

The message underpinning all of the recent publications is that education starts at birth, not at the school gate. This shift is about broadening what children experience during their time in education. Including a richer curriculum, enrichment opportunities for all children, and stronger connections across early years, primary and secondary.

Sidelined to included

This shift focuses on children whose needs have been overlooked: those with SEND, disadvantaged children, white working-class children and those in care. The White Paper’s position is that high standards and inclusion go together. This is where the biggest early years implications sit, and the accompanying SEND consultation is the detailed delivery vehicle for it.

Withdrawn to engaging

Children can’t thrive in a system they’re disengaged from. The third shift covers attendance, behaviour, parental engagement and rebuilding community confidence in education.

The targets of the White Paper

By the end of this Parliament the government sets out it expects:

• 75% of five-year-olds to reach a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of reception
• 90% of children to meet the expected standard in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
• Key Stage 2 outcomes at their highest level since current assessments began
• The disadvantage gap at GCSE to be on track to halve

The 75% GLD figure isn’t a new one, it originally came from the Plan for Change and was central to the Best Start in Life Strategy. The White Paper repeats these broader targets and frames them within the wider school reform plans.

What the White Paper means for early years

Throughout the White Paper, the term ‘early years settings’ is used and in some areas it’s clear that all providers (private group nurseries, childminders and school-based provision) are included.

Where it’s less specific, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently going through Parliament, should provide more clarity once published.

Here’s some of the key take aways from the White Paper for early years providers.

Transitions

The White Paper commits to funding partnerships between early years settings and schools to support transitions into reception, including for children with SEND.

Staff from both sides would spend time learning from each other, sharing resources and curriculum approaches, it’s assumed the funding mentioned for transition support would be to cover the cost of staff time away from the nursery.

RISE Reception Networks are also being launched to spread best practice between primary schools and their feeder nurseries. These partnerships are described as a model to test approaches rather than a fixed structure.

SEND duties start in the early years

The Inclusive Mainstream Fund (£1.6bn over three years) comes with a statutory duty on nurseries, schools, and colleges to record and monitor SEND and provision in a digital Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child with identified additional needs.

The duty to have an ISP for all children with additional needs will apply to nurseries, not just schools when it comes into action.

The ISP is described as a live record of barriers, day-to-day support, and intended outcomes.

For settings already recording children’s information digitally through nursery management software, the shift in format shouldn’t be significant, but it will become a legal requirement, not best practice.

Inclusive Early Years Fund

The White Paper announced additional funding specifically for early years providers to identify and respond to children with emerging additional needs, called the Inclusive Early Years Fund. This nursery funding is separate from the Inclusive Mainstream Fund.

The detail on amounts and distribution process isn’t confirmed in the White Paper document. Further detail on this fund is shared in the SEND reform consultation and will be intertwined with the Childcare and Early Education Review (this hasn’t been published yet).

Childcare and Early Education Review

The White Paper announces a review to simplify how early education and childcare works for families and providers. No timeline for outcomes is given in the White Paper itself.

We saw in the Best Start in Life strategy a consultation was started on the funding formula, with the expected timeline for more information on this to be Summer 2026.

Experts at Hand

The Experts at Hand initiative is a £1.8bn service introduced in the White Paper. It’ll commission speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, and other professionals into educational settings.

It’s jointly commissioned by local authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), and will be accessible to early years settings, not only schools (it’s still vague as to if that includes private nurseries as well as school-based nursery settings).

Best Start Family Hubs

Every Best Start Family Hub will have its own SEND practitioner, backed by over £200m over three years.

These practitioners are expected to work with local early years settings to identify needs early and support families in accessing provision. Settings should expect to be a named partner in their local Hub’s offer.

Projected timeline of changes

The White Paper sets out three overlapping phases of implementation. This is the current picture, though some dates depend on legislation passing and consultation periods closing.

Stay up to date with early years policy changes

Policy and educational reform are moving quickly, and it can be hard to keep up alongside everything else on your plate. The Ovivio blog is the trusted information source for summaries of the key DfE publications, EYFS activities and guides for nursery managers, owners and practitioners.

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