DISADVANTAGED children risk missing out on the same early years education as their better-off peers, a charity warned today. 

Families who do not work, or do not earn enough to qualify for government-funded childcare entitlements, will need to pay an average of £205 a week for early education for a child under two, according to Coram Family and Childcare.

The warning comes as the free childcare entitlement is expanded from 15 to 30 hours for working families with children aged nine months to three years.

The Department for Education (DfE) said support remains in place for disadvantaged families, who can access 15 funded hours a week for two-year-olds, while all three and four-year-olds are eligible for 15 hours regardless of income.

Lydia Hodges, of Coram Family and Childcare, said the gap between entitlements “is wider than ever before” and called for “all children have access to the same opportunity.”

“Parents who are not eligible for the 30 funded hours are unlikely to be able to foot the bill to give their child the same amount of early education that other children get for free,” she said.

“These are often families already facing extra challenges such as lower incomes, illness or disability.”

Coram said families of two-year-olds eligible for 15 funded hours face £100 weekly costs to extend care to 30 hours, while those not eligible for any free hours face £193 a week.

A DfE spokesperson said the policy would save families up to £7,500 a year and stressed “no child should be missing out on vital early education.”

Academics at Bradford and Bath universities have warned that funding is failing to match rising nursery fees and could “backfire,” with demand pushing up prices for unfunded hours, particularly in areas with low government support.