Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs (2026)
Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs grants are provided to Lead Settings to create and deliver the Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs network across England. The grants fund the hubs to support early years settings to create environments where every child can thrive—regardless of their background, starting point, or individual needs. Hubs achieve this by offering accessible, high-quality professional development, providing expert advice and sharing evidence-informed resources.
- Opening date:
- Closing date: (Midnight)
Contents
Summary
To support the early years sector in delivering high-quality, evidence-informed practice, the Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs programme was launched in November 2022. The programme has been delivered in partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the National Children’s Bureau (NCB).
The Best Start in Life strategy provides a commitment that ‘We will double the number of Stronger Practice Hubs, securing their future for a further three years’. This application process is to support this expansion of the Early Years Stronger Practice Hub network.
All applications will be considered against the criteria as described in the application guide, however, to maximise the benefits of the programme proposed new hub areas will also need to be considered carefully alongside locations of existing Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs and their areas of engagement.
The expectation is that, in most regions, this expansion process will result in four (rather than the current two) Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs per region. To maximise the impact of the programme, the Department may decide to take a different approach to distribution of the hubs based on the content and quality of the applications we receive.
If it is not possible to double the number of hubs through this recruitment exercise (for example due to low numbers of applications, insufficient high-scoring applications, limited geographic spread), the Department may consider conducting a further phase of recruitment in early 2026.
Eligibility
Early Years Stronger Practice Hub applications must be made by a Lead Setting which is a group-based early years setting (school-based, private, voluntary, independent (PVI) or a maintained nursery school).
The application must also identify a minimum of two to a maximum of four Partner Settings. Partner Settings must be group-based early years settings or Childminders.
The Lead and Partner Settings must all meet the Ofsted judgement criterion as set out in the application guide.
Objectives
Hubs will be provided with grant funding to the value of up to c.£240,000 per hub per financial year with further grant funding to support delivery of Objective 5 (Stronger Practice Advisers and Subject Leads). Grant funding will be subject to the DfE’s monitoring and assurance processes and will be paid in arrears for the specific services provided by the Stronger Practice Hub.
Hubs are expected to use all reasonable endeavours to achieve the following core programme objectives during the lifetime of the grant. Hubs will be expected to report against key performance indicators (KPIs) to allow the DfE to measure performance against the objectives and monitor the impact and benefits of the programme.
Objective 1: Proactively share information and advice to early years settings and practitioners based on evidence informed approaches via high quality outputs throughout your Hub’s area, such as newsletters, blogs, events, webinars and social media.
Objective 2: Maintain networks of cross-sector early years providers and organisations (including childminders) throughout agreed Hub areas to to improve child outcomes, by championing evidence informed early years practice and knowledge sharing.
Objective 3: Act as a point of contact for bespoke advice and support early years educators to access professional development opportunities and evidence informed programmes. This will include signposting to approved professional development programmes and DfE funded support including other Hubs.
Objective 4: Operate as an effective Early Years Stronger Practice Hub by; maintaining adequate, skilled staff to run the hub, ensuring coverage across the LA areas within the hub’s remit, working with the delivery partner and managing finances to ensure objectives can be met effectively across the life of the programme.
Objective 5: Support the delivery of commitments outlined in the Best Start in Life Strategy by;
· Appointing and managing Subject Leads
· Appointing and managing Stronger Practice Advisers to provide tailored post-inspection support to settings,
· Working in partnership with Local Authorities and Best Start Family Hubs, to ensure collaborative working towards improving child development outcomes in line with local Best Start in Life plans.
These objectives are subject to change at the department’s discretion. Hubs may also be expected to work towards regional aims and objectives, supporting greater collaboration between Hubs and strengthening opportunities for impact.
Dates
Key dates and deadlines for the application process are set out in table 1 below.
Table 1: application milestones
Milestone
Dates (subject to change)
Application window opens
01 December 2025
Deadline for submitting clarification questions
09 January 2026
Application window closes
16 January 2026
Assessment of applications
January 2026
Applicants informed of decisions
March 2026
Estimated high level delivery milestones are set out in table 2 below.
Table 2: delivery milestones
High level delivery milestone
Dates (subject to change)
Hubs announced
March 2026
Pre-implementation preparation
March - April 2026
Grant funding period commences
1 April 2026
Early operationalising (new hubs)
April-August 2026
Hubs fully operational
September 2026
How to apply
To apply, please read the application guide available at Early years stronger practice hubs - GOV.UK and complete the application form. Information about an applicant webinar (and access to the recording post-event) can also be found via this page.
Completed forms should be submitted by email to EYSPH.applications@education.gov.uk before the deadline.