Summer holiday childcare rises to £179 per week

In their 2025 Holiday Childcare Survey, Coram, the children’s charity, found that summer holiday childcare costs in Great Britain have risen by four per cent in the last year, with working parents now facing an average bill of £179 per child per week. This totals to £1,075 for the six-week break, which is £677 more than six weeks of childcare during term time.

Childcare in the summer holidays is, for many parents, essential to allowing them to stay in work, and many children can benefit from the opportunity to have fun, socialise, and stay active in their breaks from school.

There is significant variation in the price of a week at a holiday club for children across Britain, ranging from £196 in the south east to £162 in the north west. Childminders, too, come at a significant cost, with the average price of a week with a childminder during the holidays is £234 in Great Britain. Childcare remains more expensive during the holidays than in term time: a week at a childcare club clubs costs over two-and-a-half times more than an after-school club at £179 each week compared to £66.

Only nine per cent of councils in England reported having enough places for at least 75 per cent of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their area.

57 per cent of holiday clubs in the PVI sector in Britain are open for the full day, 44 per cent of holiday clubs in the public sector are in Britain are open for the full day, and 78 per cent of childminders in Britain are open for the full day.

Coram Family and Childcare is calling on the government to maintain the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme after March 2026 to ensure disadvantaged children have affordable, high-quality childcare during school holidays, to support local authorities increase data collection on holiday childcare provision to plan year-round provision for children, and expand the scope of the early years workforce plans in the ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ strategy to include teh school-aged childcare workforce.