Guardian View: Ministers Should Build on Sure Start's Early Years Legacy Rather Than Only Fixing Problems
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/editorial. "The Guardian view on nurseries: some things are going right for under-fives | Editorial | The Guardian." October 4, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The Guardian argues that despite real problems like unequal access to childcare and recent safeguarding scandals, England's early years education system has quietly become a success story thanks to investments from the old Sure Start program. The editorial urges the government to not just fix what's broken, but also actively build on and expand what's already working well.
Conclusion
While continuing to address inequalities and safeguarding failures in early years education, UK ministers should also recognize and build upon the genuine successes of England's early years sector, which stem from the Sure Start legacy.
Premises
- England's five-year-olds scored strongly in the OECD Early Learning and Child Well-being Study, topping the social-emotional development measure
- England's early years framework is internationally admired, even though it receives less attention than the national curriculum
- Early years funding has expanded massively, with eligible working parents entitled to 30 hours of childcare weekly from nine months until school age
- These successes are a legacy of Sure Start and the investment that accompanied it
- Significant problems remain, including school readiness gaps, the attainment gap between disadvantaged and wealthier children, unequal access for families without working parents, potential excess profits by private providers, and safeguarding failures like the Vincent Chan abuse case
- The current funding model follows working parental demand rather than building universal provision, which disadvantages non-working families and poorer areas
Assumptions
- The OECD study's sample size and methodology, despite limitations, provide meaningful evidence about early years outcomes
- Positive outcomes in the study can be reasonably attributed to Sure Start's historical investment rather than other factors
- Government policy attention is a zero-sum or limited resource, such that focusing only on failures neglects opportunities to build on strengths
- Early childhood development has lasting effects that justify significant policy focus and investment
- Addressing structural funding inequalities (e.g., the demand-following model) would meaningfully improve outcomes for disadvantaged children