{
  "query": {
    "country": "GB",
    "area": "Manchester",
    "age_group": "toddler",
    "care_type": null,
    "hours": null
  },
  "status": "ok",
  "price": {
    "currency": "GBP",
    "unit": "per hour",
    "value": 7,
    "measure": "median",
    "median": 7,
    "typical_low": null,
    "typical_high": null,
    "min": null,
    "max": null
  },
  "sample_size": 47,
  "period": {
    "from": "2025-01-01",
    "to": "2025-12-31"
  },
  "confidence": "high",
  "price_type": "official_statistic",
  "statistic": {
    "measure": "median",
    "reference_period": "2025",
    "note": "The hourly fee providers say they charge parents (the parent-paid fee) for hours parents pay for; multiply by the hours booked. Government-funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare are not deducted. England only."
  },
  "as_of": "2026-10-14T22:58:07.460Z",
  "source": {
    "id": "gb-childcare-fees",
    "name": "Childcare and early years provider survey (SCEYP)",
    "publisher": "Department for Education (England)",
    "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0. Explore education statistics says: \"All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated\".",
    "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
    "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Department for Education, Childcare and early years provider survey 2025.",
    "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-provider-survey"
  },
  "method": "England (Department for Education, Childcare and early years provider survey): the weighted median hourly fee that childcare providers say they charge parents, for the chosen region, local authority or England, age of child and (for England) provider type, from the latest annual survey (fieldwork May to July). We pass on the published median; the sample size is the number of providers answering. Hourly, before government-funded hours.",
  "method_url": "https://proofprice.com/method",
  "summary": "The median hourly fee that providers in Manchester charge parents for 2 year olds was £7.00 an hour in 2025 (mean £7.46). Official median published by Department for Education (England) for 2025.",
  "notice": "Information, not a valuation or offer. Ranges describe past recorded prices.",
  "extra": {
    "area": {
      "name": "Manchester",
      "ons_code": "E08000003",
      "kind": "local authority"
    },
    "age_group": "toddler",
    "provider_type": "all providers",
    "mean_hourly_fee": 7.45985,
    "providers_answering": 47,
    "low_reliability": false,
    "by_age_group": {
      "2 year olds": 7,
      "3 and 4 year olds": 6.5
    },
    "data_year": 2025,
    "data_age_years": 1,
    "price_basis": "median hourly parent-paid fee charged by providers, before funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare",
    "coverage_note": "England only; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not covered."
  },
  "answer_id": "ans_4d7f2b401e28a893081b",
  "method_version": "1",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-10-14T22:58:07.461Z",
  "evidence": {
    "type": "official_statistic",
    "label": "Official published median",
    "meaning": "One average or median that a statistics office or regulator publishes for a reference period: it describes a group, not a distribution, and says nothing about any single price."
  }
}