Children and Young People
type: Concept

Care Inspectorate
type: Agent

early-learning-and-childcare-children-registered.csv
type: Distribution
table schema: Schema
  column: Column
    datatype: int
    name: DateCode
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: GeographyCode
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: Early Learning And Childcare Service
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: GeographyType
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: Units
  column: Column
    datatype: float
    name: Value
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: GeographyName
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: Measurement
access URL: https://admin.data.gov.scot/resource/0b3b36f6-634f-4b8d-a4d9-af66575f8fcd/download
description: Data file for Early Learning and Childcare: Children Registered
format: CSV
issued: 2026-08-13T13:18:56.874421
modified: 2026-08-13T13:18:56.870816
comment: Number and rate (per 100 children) of children registered to attend early learning and childcare services
dictionary: Column
  column: DateCode
  type: int
dictionary: Column
  column: GeographyType
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: GeographyCode
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: GeographyName
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: Measurement
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: Units
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: Value
  type: float
dictionary: Column
  column: Early Learning And Childcare Service
  type: text

Early Learning and Childcare: Children Registered
type: Dataset
version notes: Early learning and childcare statistics are not subject to routine revision.
contact point: Kind
contact point: Organization
theme: Children and Young People
description: Number and rate of children registered with early learning and childcare services as at 31 December. Creche services are not included in these totals. Children are counted once for each service they attend. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10 to express the uncertainty inherent in these estimates. For this reason, totals may not exactly equal the sum of their parts. Full publication and supporting tables are available from the [Care Inspectorate website](http://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/statistics-and-analysis#Childcare). We have also created early learning and childcare local profiles based on this data to assist local authority planning for the expansion of early learning and childcare in Scotland. These can be downloaded from the [Care Inspectorate website](http://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/statistics-and-analysis/early-learning-and-childcare-profiles).
issued: 2026-08-13T13:17:40.372785
modified: 2026-08-13T13:18:56.864293
accuracy: Not assessed
comment: Number and rate (per 100 children) of children registered to attend early learning and childcare services
completeness: The Care Inspectorate registers daycare of children services and childminders, which this report will collectively refer to as early learning and childcare services. For the purposes of this report, this includes daycare services only provided for school-aged children such as out of school care services and holiday play schemes. Comprehensive definitions of the terms used can be accessed in the statistical reports published on the [Care Inspectorate website](http://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/statistics-and-analysis#Childcare)
confidentiality: Not assessed
consistency: The National Records of Scotland [mid-year population estimates](https://statistics.gov.scot/resource?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fstatistics.gov.scot%2Fdata%2Fpopulation-estimates-current-geographic-boundaries) have been used to calculate rates.
geographical coverage: S12
geographical coverage: S92
license id: uk-ogl
next update: 2020-11-01
quality management: Where a daycare of children service did not submit an annual return, but did submit a return in either of the previous two years, the information submitted in the most recent historic annual return was used to impute the missing data. Where a service has not provided any information in either of the two previous years or where a service was newly registered, missing data has been estimated. To estimate missing data, we have considered the following variables: service size; service location (local authority area and level of deprivation) and service category (nursery, playgroup and so on). We then estimated the missing data using average values from services based on the above criteria.
reference period: PeriodOfTime
  end date: 2018
  start date: 2015
timeliness: This dataset is published annually.
uniqueness: Not assessed
update frequency: annual
validity: Not assessed
will be updated: true