Newsflash: Three Digital Tools to Empower Parents

DfE and No10 will be launching three digital tools to empower parents to search for local childcare, estimate childcare fees, and check what support they're entitled to.

What’s launching?

On 26^th May we will be announcing the launch of these tools as a ‘beta’. This means families will be able to start using the tools while we continue to take on feedback and make improvements.

The three tools will be connected to the existing Best Start in Life site, and provide families with access to:

Updated Childcare “Entitlement Checker” (national) – helping parents understand what support they may be eligible for, building on the existing checker available on Best Start in Life

Childcare “Cost Estimator” (national) – providing childcare cost estimates by region and childcare type

Childcare “Find a Provider” (available in West of England Combined Authority) – enabling parents to search for childcare providers in their local area

Next steps

As we move to expand the “Find a Provider” to other LA areas, we will work with LAs, their FIS teams and CMAs over the coming months.

How can you help?

The “Find a Provider” will signpost families to provider and LA FIS websites and so providers should take this opportunity to ensure their business information and childcare offer is up to date on both these sites. We want to encourage use of “Find a Provider” as a way for providers to showcase their services and connect with more families.

We will inform LAs and CMAs prior to “Find a Provider” expanding to new local areas, so providers can anticipate further messaging ahead of expansion.

FAQs

What data are you using?

Data used in “Find a Provider” is collected from the Ofsted Early Years Register, School Census and Get Information About Schools, and enriched with data from the LA FIS website.

We are working with LA/FIS teams and Childminder Agencies operating in the beta region to ensure data it is kept up to date.

How are inspection outcomes displayed for new Ofsted ratings and childminders registered with Childminder Agencies?

We have worked with Ofsted to ensure that the new rating system is appropriately represented in “Find a Provider” with an at-a-glance summary available in the search results, alongside additional detail available when clicked though for individual providers.

We are also working directly with Childminder Agencies to agree display of their inspection outcomes in line with Ofsted outcomes.

I have feedback to share

Great! We look forward to receiving it. A ‘beta’ enables families to start using the tools while we continue to take on feedback and make improvements. There will be this feedback form available at the top of the new Best Start in Life tool pages.

When will “Find a Provider” be expanding nationally?

We are working towards a national rollout by the end of the year and will be in touch with LAs and CMAs with additional details as we plan this rollout.

How are costs estimated?

The “Cost Estimator” uses data from DfE’s 2025 Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers (SCEYP), and is designed to be consistent with the data surfaced by DfE in Section 8 of the Childcare and early years provider survey statistics. This means that we report averages using the same DfE weighting methodology, as outlined in the DfE documentation Methodologies of the Childcare and early years provider survey statistics. Also, in line with DfE’s reporting approach, we consider averages based on fewer than 30 responses to be unreliable and hence we do not surface these, falling back to a broader geographical estimate with a greater number of responses.

The estimator assumes full utilisation of the government support e.g. using 570/1,140 funded hours a year and 85% UC reimbursement of outstanding childcare costs, and does not currently estimate costs for additional extras, such as consumables and food, and this is caveated throughout the tool.