The UK’s childcare system is changing. From September 2025, eligible working parents will get 30 hours of free childcare per week for children aged nine months to school age—double the current 15 hours.
While this is fantastic news for families, it brings big challenges for childcare providers, particularly around staffing and capacity.
What This Means for Childcare Providers
With demand set to soar, the sector will need an estimated:
- 70,000 additional childcare places – Nurseries and early years settings will need to expand, adding more spaces and resources to meet demand
- 35,000 more early years professionals – More staff will be essential to maintain legal child-to-staff ratios, ensuring quality care and education
- Careful financial planning – Government funding will help, but providers must manage staffing, training, and operational costs effectively.
For childcare providers, this provides opportunities and challenges in equal measure. Obviously, the increase in childcare hours will lead to increased revenue for those providers that have capacity to spare.
For those without capacity, the challenge comes in either recruiting trained professionals or upskilling their existing staff so that they are fully qualified.
How Apprenticeships Can Help
One of the best ways to meet staffing needs is through Early Years apprenticeships. The critical fact about apprentices is that they learn on the job; you do not have to wait for them to complete their qualification before they can contribute. Apprentices can put everything they learn into practice immediately, meaning that childcare providers still get the member of staff that they need, while they train.
Early years apprenticeships also offer:
- A cost-effective solution – Government funding and incentives make apprenticeships an affordable way to recruit and train staff
- A pipeline of skilled, qualified staff – Apprentices gain hands-on experience while working towards recognised early years qualifications
- Better staff retention – Training apprentices from the ground up encourages them to stay and progress within the sector
- A diverse and passionate workforce – Apprenticeships attract a wide range of candidates, bringing fresh talent into the profession.
Next Steps for Providers
To prepare, providers should:
1. Work with apprenticeship training providers to recruit and develop new staff. Total People can help you put together a job description, can advertise your vacancy, can help you with interviewing and can even suggest those candidates that are most likely to succeed
2. Create mentorship programmes to support apprentices and help them settle into the role
3. Invest in ongoing professional development to upskill both apprentices and existing staff; apprenticeships can be for anyone!
4. Engage with local communities to promote careers in early years and encourage more people to consider the sector.
Final Thoughts
The expansion of free childcare is a huge opportunity, but only if the sector is ready. With apprenticeships playing a key role in training and developing staff, providers can grow their teams, maintain quality care, and ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life.
Total People are committed to delivering tailored, high-quality training to help childcare providers take advantage of the opportunities that September will bring. We can offer help with funding, reskilling, recruitment, and all the paperwork as well as offering ongoing support for you and your apprentices.
Call us on 03333 222 666 or visit https://www.totalpeople.co.uk/apprenticeships-for-employers/
