Children’s centres successfully targeting disadvantaged families

The Department for Education (DfE) has released a series of research reports into children's centres in England.

The Evaluation of Children’s Centres in England (ECCE) is a 6-year study commissioned by the Department for Education and carried out by NatCen Social Research, the University of Oxford and Frontier Economics. It has provided rich data on the types of services that children’s centres have offered between 2011 and 2014 and detailed information on service delivery, multi-agency working and reach.

One report presents findings from a survey of families and their experiences using children’s centres. It adds to the research evidence on children’s centres by providing valuable insight from the perspective of families. The research provides strong evidence to show that children’s centres are successfully targeting disadvantaged families. Click here to view the report.

The DfE also surveyed leaders of children's centres in disadvantaged areas. The results reveal how children’s centre services changed between 2011 and 2013 and show that, overall, there is a move towards greater clustering of children’s centres, increased targeting of services on families with the greatest needs and staff reductions. Click here to view the report

Further information

Organisation, services and reach of children’s centres: Evaluation of children’s centres in England (Research Report)

Organisation, services and reach of children’s centres: Evaluation of children’s centres in England (Research Brief)

Organisation, services and reach of children’s centres: Evaluation of children’s centres in England (Technical appendices)