Elephant & Castle in Southwark Early years summary

Local area: Elephant & Castle

Local authority: Southwark

Summary

Elephant & Castle (E02000815) is part of Southwark local authority (view on map). Elephant & Castle has an approximate population of 8,400 people, of which 4.4% are children 5 years old and under. It is classified as "urban: nearer to a major town or city".

Elephant & Castle neighbours Borough & Southwark Street, London Bridge & Bermondsey West, Walworth North, Newington, Kennington East & Walworth West, and Southwark St George's.

Headlines for early years in Southwark

The data below is only available at local authority level

  • 0.3% of pupils under 1 are classed as 'children looked after' in Southwark compared to 0.6% nationally. This places it in the bottom 10% of areas with 'children looked after' in this age group
  • 0.2% of pupils aged 1 to 4 are classed as 'children looked after' in Southwark compared to 0.4% nationally. This places it in the bottom 10% of areas with 'children looked after' in this age group
  • In Southwark, 74% 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 Southwark, 80% 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

Elephant & Castle is the 29th least deprived area in Southwark (out of 34) with 55% of children living in low-income families, compared to 43% across Southwark and 38% nationally.

Data source

Provider information

Registered childcare providers

Elephant & Castle has 12 registered childcare providers.

Type Number in Elephant & Castle
All childcare providers 12
Childminders 8
Pre-school/day nursery/out-of-school care 4

In Elephant & Castle, there have been 2 full inspections of childcare providers since the introduction of the renewed education inspection framework in November 2025.

Achievement: There have been no inspections of Achievement in Elephant & Castle so no outcomes are available for this area.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: There have been no inspections of Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines in Elephant & Castle so no outcomes are available for this area.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: There have been no inspections of Children's welfare and wellbeing in Elephant & Castle so no outcomes are available for this area.

Curriculum and teaching: There have been no inspections of Curriculum and teaching in Elephant & Castle so no outcomes are available for this area.

Inclusion: There have been no inspections of Inclusion in Elephant & Castle so no outcomes are available for this area.

Leadership and governance: 1 was graded 'expected standard', and 1 was graded 'needs attention' (of 2).

The tables below show the outcomes of inspections of childcare providers in Elephant & Castle. The tables are split by provider type, and show the number of inspections that have taken place for each area, and the outcomes of those inspections.

Contents

All childcare

Number of inspections Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement
Achievement 0 0 0 0 0 0
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines 0 0 0 0 0 0
Children's welfare and wellbeing 0 0 0 0 0 0
Curriculum and teaching 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inclusion 0 0 0 0 0 0
Leadership and governance 2 0 0 1 1 0

Childminders

Number of inspections Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement
Achievement 0 0 0 0 0 0
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines 0 0 0 0 0 0
Children's welfare and wellbeing 0 0 0 0 0 0
Curriculum and teaching 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inclusion 0 0 0 0 0 0
Leadership and governance 2 0 0 1 1 0

Pre-school/day nursery/out-of-school care

Number of inspections Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement
Achievement 0 0 0 0 0 0
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines 0 0 0 0 0 0
Children's welfare and wellbeing 0 0 0 0 0 0
Curriculum and teaching 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inclusion 0 0 0 0 0 0
Leadership and governance 0 0 0 0 0 0

Data source

Summary of Ofsted findings

Summary of Ofsted findings

Inspection of Southwark’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 9 March 2026 Good Good Good Good Good

Data source

Area SEND inspection of Southwark 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

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

Data source

Joint targeted area inspection of Southwark 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
There have been no JTAI inspections for this local authority.

Data source

Early years population

Contents

Percentage of Elephant & Castle population by age group

Table showing percentage of Elephant & Castle population by age group

% in Elephant & Castle % in Southwark % National
Age 5 and under 4.4% 5.8% 6.4%
Under 1 year 1.0% 1.0% 1.0%
1 year 0.7% 1.0% 1.0%
2 years 0.8% 1.0% 1.1%
3 years 0.6% 0.9% 1.1%
4 years 0.7% 0.9% 1.1%
5 years 0.6% 0.9% 1.1%

Data source

Local authority context

Early years pupil premium

In Southwark, 6.1% 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 Southwark % in Southwark % National
Receiving pupil premium 1,110 6.1% 5.1%

Data source

Children looked after

The percentage of 'children looked after' in Southwark is 0.3% for under 1 year olds and 0.2% 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 Southwark compared to 0.6% nationally. This places it in the bottom 10% of areas with 'children looked after' in this age group. In addition, 0.2% of pupils aged 1 to 4 are classed as 'children looked after' in Southwark compared to 0.4% 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 Southwark

Number in Southwark % in Southwark % National
Children looked after (under 1 year) 11 0.3% 0.6%
Children looked after (aged 1 to 4 years) 25 0.2% 0.4%

Percentage of children looked after in Southwark

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 Southwark, 5.7% of children aged 5 and under receive SEN support in state-funded settings and 1.3% 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 Southwark % in Southwark % National
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5 and under) 1,035 5.7% 4.5%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (under 2 years) 70 0.7% 0.3%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (3 years) 219 7.9% 3.7%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (4 years) 338 12% 9.2%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (5 years) 408 14% 12%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (age 5 and under) 236 1.3% 1.4%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (under 2 years) 0 0% 0%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (3 years) 8 0.3% 0.3%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (4 years) 74 2.5% 3.1%
Total: EHCPs in state-funded settings (5 years) 154 5.2% 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 Southwark.

In Southwark, 1.5% of children aged 5 and under have an EHC plan, compared to 1.6% nationally.

Contents

Percentage of children with an EHCP in Southwark by age group

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

Number in Southwark % in Southwark % National
Total: Children with an EHCP (age 5 and under) 266 1.5% 1.6%
Total: Children with an EHCP (under 2 years) 3 0% 0%
Total: Children with an EHCP (3 years) 11 0.4% 0.8%
Total: Children with an EHCP (4 years) 85 2.9% 3.4%
Total: Children with an EHCP (5 years) 167 5.6% 5.0%

Data source

Early years funded takeup

In Southwark, take-up of funded early years places is 62% for 2-year-olds, 74% for 3-year-olds, and 81% for 4-year-olds, compared to 72%, 88%, and 93% nationally.

In Southwark, 74% 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 Southwark, 80% 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
Southwark 612 20% 62%
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
Southwark All 3-year olds are eligible 74%
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
Southwark All 4-year olds are eligible 81%
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 Southwark, 26% 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 Southwark % in Southwark % National
Children's overweight and obesity (reception-age children) 585 26% 24%

Data source

Oral health

In Southwark, 18% 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 Southwark % examined in Southwark % in Southwark % National
Oral health (visible tooth decay in 5-year-olds) 388 13% 18% 22%

Data source