ABSTRACT
Few neighbouring continental societies are envious of the United Kingdom's record on public educational provision for pre-school children. The effect of the National Curriculum has been to download a more formal structure of learning into the five-to-seven phase Key Stage 1. The only children for whom local authorities are obliged to provide pre-school education are those identified as having special educational needs; consequently general provision varies considerably across the country, with Wales leading regional provision for three- and four-year olds with about 70 per cent while Scotland provides about 40 per cent. The libertarian Right has strongly influenced the direction of national policy over the past sixteen years. The academic consensus was that the significant outcome of pre-school education was not so much achievement of academic skills but development in personal organisation and autonomy. In contrast, Margaret Lochrie for the Pre-School Learning Alliance hoped that a newly funded nursery programme would start afresh.
