08/09/2026
According to an NDNA survey of 728 nurseries, 96% are or in the process of planning fee increases in 2026, averaging around 10%. The reason is not complicated. Staffing costs are rising by around 15% on average, driven significantly by National Insurance increases, while government funding rates have gone up by under 5%.
That gap has to be funded from somewhere. And for the vast majority of private and voluntary nurseries, that means it comes from families.
Nobody in this sector wants to have that conversation. Fees in the UK are already among the highest in the world for childcare, and asking families to pay more when household budgets are also under pressure is genuinely difficult. I want to be honest about that rather than pretend there is a comfortable way to do it.
But here's what I've observed. The settings that handle fee increases badly are usually not the ones that increase by too much. They're the ones that communicate badly.
A letter that arrives without context. An email that announces the number without explaining the reason. A conversation that happens too late, after families have already heard from other parents at the gate.❌️
The settings that maintain family trust through a fee increase are the ones that are honest about why it's happening, give adequate notice, acknowledge the impact on families, and continue to demonstrate the value they provide every single day.✅️
Families are more understanding than leaders sometimes give them credit for. What erodes trust is not the increase. It's feeling like something was done to them rather than communicated with them.
If your fees are going up, have the conversation directly, early, and with respect. That's the whole strategy.
