Lower Holloway in Islington Early years summary

Local area: Lower Holloway

Local authority: Islington

Summary

Lower Holloway (E02000564) is part of Islington local authority (view on map). Lower Holloway has an approximate population of 13,000 people, of which 5.3% are children 5 years old and under. It is classified as "urban: nearer to a major town or city".

Lower Holloway neighbours Finsbury Park West, Gillespie Road, Holloway Nag's Head, Hilldrop, Highbury Fields, and Caledonian Road.

Headlines for early years in Islington

The data below is only available at local authority level

  • 0.3% of pupils under 1 are classed as 'children looked after' in Islington compared to 0.6% nationally. This places it in the bottom 10% of areas with 'children looked after' in this age group
  • In Islington, 77% of the funded places for 3-year-olds have been taken up, which is lower than the national at 88%. This places it among the bottom 10% of areas
  • In Islington, 76% of the funded places for 4-year-olds have been taken up, which is lower than the national at 92%. This places it among the bottom 10% of areas
Guidance and data sources

Local area pages are based on the middle-layer super output areas (MSOAs) distributed across the country. MSOAs comprise between 2,000 and 6,000 households and have a resident population of, generally, between 5,000 and 15,000 people. MSOAs fit within local authorities. For each area, descriptive statistics are compared with local authority and national averages. For more information about MSOAs, please visit the Office for National Statistics website.

The data displayed is sourced from:

Deprivation

Lower Holloway is the 7th least deprived area in Islington (out of 23) with 47% of children living in low-income families, compared to 53% across Islington and 38% nationally.

Data source

Provider information

Registered childcare providers

Lower Holloway has 5 registered childcare providers.

Type Number in Lower Holloway
All childcare providers 5
Childminders 3
Pre-school/day nursery/out-of-school care 2

There have been no inspections of childcare providers in Lower Holloway since the introduction of the renewed education inspection framework in November 2025.

Data source

Summary of Ofsted findings

Summary of Ofsted findings

Inspection of Islington’s local authority children’s services

These inspections focus on the effectiveness of local authority services and arrangements:

  • to help and protect children, and enable families to stay together and get the help they need
  • the experiences and progress of children in care wherever they live, including those children who return home
  • the arrangements for permanence for children who are looked after, in stable, loving homes, including adoption
  • the experiences and progress of care leavers.
Inspection type Inspection start date Overall effectiveness Impact of leaders Help and protection Children in care Care leavers
ILACS Short Inspection 2 December 2024 Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding

Data source

Area SEND inspection of Islington Local Area Partnership

The purpose of an area SEND inspection is to:

  • provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
  • where appropriate, recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements.
Inspection outcome

Islington local area partnership has not yet been inspected under the current area SEND framework.

Data source

Joint targeted area inspection of Islington local authority

The agencies for these inspections can include the police, children’s social care, probation services, education and relevant health services. Inspectors will also evaluate how local agencies work with education and childcare providers. The focus of these inspections is how effectively the local safeguarding partners work together at the practice and strategic levels.

Theme Inspection start date Link
Sexual abuse in the family 3 December 2018 Link

Data source

Early years population

Contents

Percentage of Lower Holloway population by age group

Table showing percentage of Lower Holloway population by age group

% in Lower Holloway % in Islington % National
Age 5 and under 5.3% 5.6% 6.4%
Under 1 year 1.0% 1.0% 1.0%
1 year 1.0% 1.0% 1.0%
2 years 0.8% 1.0% 1.1%
3 years 0.9% 0.9% 1.1%
4 years 0.8% 0.8% 1.1%
5 years 0.7% 0.9% 1.1%

Data source

Local authority context

Early years pupil premium

In Islington, 6.2% of children are receiving the early years pupil premium, compared to 5.1% nationally.

Contents

Percentage of children in receipt of early years pupil premium

Table showing the percentage of children in receipt of early years pupil premium

Number in Islington % in Islington % National
Receiving pupil premium 782 6.2% 5.1%

Data source

Children looked after

The percentage of 'children looked after' in Islington is 0.3% for under 1 year olds and 0.3% for 1 to 4 year olds. The national average is 0.6% for under 1 year olds and 0.4% for 1 to 4 year olds.

0.3% of pupils under 1 are classed as 'children looked after' in Islington compared to 0.6% nationally. This places it in the bottom 10% of areas with 'children looked after' in this age group.

Contents

Table showing percentage of children looked after in Islington

Number in Islington % in Islington % National
Children looked after (under 1 year) 7 0.3% 0.6%
Children looked after (aged 1 to 4 years) 27 0.3% 0.4%

Percentage of children looked after in Islington

Data source

Special educational needs and disabilities in state-funded schools

This data is taken from the school census data for children aged 5 and under with special educational needs and disabilities in state-funded settings.

In Islington, 4.9% of children aged 5 and under receive SEN support in state-funded settings and 1.6% have an EHC plan, compared to 4.5% and 1.4% nationally.

Contents

Percentage of children with SEND in state-funded settings by age group

Table showing percentage of children with SEND in state-funded settings by age group

Number in Islington % in Islington % National
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5 and under) 619 4.9% 4.5%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (under 2 years) 29 0.4% 0.3%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (3 years) 135 6.6% 3.7%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (4 years) 199 11% 9.2%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (5 years) 256 13% 12%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (age 5 and under) 202 1.6% 1.4%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (under 2 years) 0 0% 0%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (3 years) 3 0.1% 0.3%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (4 years) 94 5.1% 3.1%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (5 years) 105 5.4% 4.8%

Data source

Education, health and care plans

This data is taken from the local authority level data for children aged 5 and under issued with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in Islington.

In Islington, 1.7% of children aged 5 and under have an EHC plan, compared to 1.6% nationally.

Contents

Percentage of children with an EHCP in Islington by age group

Table showing percentage of children with an EHCP in Islington by age group

Number in Islington % in Islington % National
Total: Children with an EHCP (age 5 and under) 209 1.7% 1.6%
Total: Children with an EHCP (under 2 years) 0 0% 0%
Total: Children with an EHCP (3 years) 2 0.1% 0.8%
Total: Children with an EHCP (4 years) 98 5.3% 3.4%
Total: Children with an EHCP (5 years) 109 5.7% 5.0%

Data source

Early years funded takeup

In Islington, take-up of funded early years places is 79% for 2-year-olds, 77% for 3-year-olds, and 76% for 4-year-olds, compared to 72%, 88%, and 93% nationally.

In Islington, 77% of the funded places for 3-year-olds have been taken up, which is lower than the national at 88%. This places it among the bottom 10% of areas. In Islington, 76% of the funded places for 4-year-olds have been taken up, which is lower than the national at 92%. This places it among the bottom 10% of areas.

Contents

Percentage of eligible children taking up funded early years places

Table showing percentage of eligible children taking up funded early years places

Funded early years places for 2-year-olds Number of eligible 2-year-olds % of population aged 2 % take-up of funded places
Islington 542 24% 79%
National 119,598 19% 72%
Funded early years places for 3-year-olds Number of eligible 3-year-olds % of population aged 3 % take-up of funded places
Islington All 3-year olds are eligible 77%
National 88%
Funded early years places for 4-year-olds Number of eligible 4-year-olds % of population aged 4 % take-up of funded places
Islington All 4-year olds are eligible 76%
National 93%
The 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old funded places tables look different because they measure different things; funded places for 2-year-olds are only for children considered to be disadvantaged, while for 3- and 4-year-olds everyone is entitled to a funded place.

Data source

Children's overweight and obesity

In Islington, 23% of reception-age children are overweight or obese, compared to 24% nationally.

Contents

Percentage of reception-age children overweight or obese

Table showing percentage of reception-age children overweight or obese

Number in Islington % in Islington % National
Children's overweight and obesity (reception-age children) 305 23% 24%

Data source

Oral health

In Islington, 29% of children aged 5 have visible tooth decay (oral health issues) compared to 22% nationally.

Contents

Percentage of 5-year-olds with visible tooth decay

Table showing percentage of 5-year-olds with visible tooth decay

Number examined in Islington % examined in Islington % in Islington % National
Oral health (visible tooth decay in 5-year-olds) 279 14% 29% 22%

Data source