INSTITUTIONAL TYPOLOGY OF EARLY YEARS EDUCATION IN ENGLAND: EXPERIENCE FOR THE MODERNIZATION OF UKRAINE’S EDUCATIONAL SPACE

Abstract

Introduction. Preschool education in Ukraine is currently undergoing a period of fundamental transformation. There is an urgent need to implement diversified institutional forms (family kindergartens, micro-groups), which necessitates the study of successful foreign experience. The English Early Years Education system, with its high level of multi-variability and the updated EYFS 2025 standards, serves as a relevant benchmark for adapting effective managerial and pedagogical solutions into the Ukrainian educational space.
Purpose. The article aims to theoretically substantiate the institutional typology of early years education in England at the current stage and to determine the prognostic possibilities of implementing British regulations and organizational models within the context of reforming the national system of preschool upbringing.
Methods. The study employs a comprehensive set of scientific methods: comparative pedagogical analysis; the historical-retrospective method (to analyze the evolution of British early years education); the statistical method (for processing data from the UK Department for Education and Ofsted); and system-structural analysis (to classify the components of the EYFS 2025 standard).
Results. Three key vectors of English early years provision have been identified and systematized: private/voluntary (Group-based), school-linked (School-based), and individual (Childminders). The dynamics of implementing the EYFS 2025 standard.
Originality. The scientific novelty of the research lies in highlighting the most recent transformations in English education, which have not previously been the subject of analysis in Ukrainian pedagogical science. For the first time, a parallel is drawn between the new types of institutions established by the 2024 Law of Ukraine "On Preschool Education" and their British counterparts, allowing for the identification of specific algorithms for their practical functioning.
Conclusion. The English early years model demonstrates a prime example of a flexible combination of state oversight and institutional autonomy. For Ukraine, it is critically important to adopt British approaches to regulating small-scale preschool provisions and to implement a system of professional certification for independent educators (childminders). This will ensure the quality and accessibility of education within the framework of the ongoing reform.