Childminding UK
Childminding UK supports childminders across the UK, offering professional support and training to promote high quality childminding. Formed in 1991 by and for local working childminders in Northamptonshire, we now support childminders across the country.We believe in the benefits of childminding for children and their families and we understand the unique challenges childminders face. We’re…
Idea for research
Idea for research
Childminding UK, formed in 1991, supports childminders across the UK, offering professional support and training to promote high quality childminding. Their work has been recognised by Princess Royal Training Awards standard (2022, 2025) for their commitment to training and development.

They are open to collaborating with UCL master’s students on dissertation projects focussed on childminding. They encourage students to bring their own proposals for research, but have suggested the following themes:
- Challenges of childminding and potential solutions.
- Sustaining childminding. Childminding UK has been recognised
- Policy. The UK Government’s 2025 Childcare strategy, ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/giving-every-child-the-best-start-in-life/giving-every-child-the-best-start-in-life), set out goals to raise the number of registered childminders.
Impact of idea
Since Childminding UK is a small organisation with little internal resource for research, any research that raises the profile of childminding is valuable to them. Through their involvement in Early Education and Childcare Coalition, they would hope to use the outputs to influence government policy in support of childminders.

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Application process
Application criteria
Since Childminding UK is a small operation, they require a highly independent and proactive student capable of managing their own research project with minimal supervision.
Is this project fully accessible to students with the disabilities?
Yes
Disabilities information
The project can be adapted to fully accommodate any student accessibility needs.
Childminding UK involvement will be via Zoom, so not accessibility issues will arise. If the student would be visiting childminders homes, then any accessibility requirements can be discussed directly with them.

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