Lilycroft Nursery School

What Lilycroft Nursery School does

Lilycroft Nursery School is a maintained nursery school under Bradford local authority governance, located at 11 Lilycroft Road, Bradford, United Kingdom. Founded in 1921 as one of the earliest nursery schools in England under the Margaret McMillan nursery movement, the school serves children aged two to five with early years education following the statutory EYFS / Birth to Five Matters curriculum framework, with Communication and Language positioned as the foundational learning area. The school operates term time only (38 weeks per year, Monday to Friday 7:45am–4:30pm) and delivers its curriculum through play-based indoor and outdoor learning, individual learning plans, and a Getting to Know You programme of home visits, key workers, and Better Together parent meetings.

The school operates a hybrid revenue model combining government-funded hours with parent-paid session fees. Bradford Council provides funded early education of 15 hours per week for eligible 2-year-olds and all 3-4 year olds, plus up to 30 hours for working families with children aged 9 months to 4 years. Parent fees (effective 1 September 2025) are structured as six modular session tiers — full day £46.20, morning £26.60, afternoon £24.25, breakfast £7.80 (including food), lunchtime £6.70, and after-school £7.80 (including food) — invoiced monthly in advance. The Early Years Pupil Premium programme provides an additional £570 per year per eligible child for enrichment activities and individual learning plans. Holiday childcare is delivered through the federated St Edmund's Nursery School, which operates 50 weeks per year at 7:45am–5:45pm.

Since 2019, Lilycroft has operated in a federation with St Edmund's Nursery School, sharing a governing body, ethos, and practice under Executive Head Teacher Sian Hudson. The federation provides access to specialist SEND provision via St Edmund's Early Years Enhanced Specialist Provision (EYESP) Hub status, with SENDCO Ermina Kesedzic covering both sites. The school has consistently held an Outstanding Ofsted rating across five consecutive inspection cycles (2006, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2023). It is a non-commercial public educational institution with 15 employees, no subsidiaries, no external investors, and a single-site geographic footprint confined to the Bradford area, with marketing conducted through a Schudio-hosted website, Facebook, Google reviews, and referral partnerships with Bradford Birth To 19, Bradford Family Hubs, and 50 Things To Do Before You're Five.

Name

Lilycroft Nursery School

Legal name

Lilycroft Nursery School for children from two to five

Website

https://lilycroftnurseryschool.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1921

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lilycroft Nursery School is a maintained nursery school in Bradford, UK, providing statutory early years education and modular paid childcare sessions for children aged two to five under a federation with St Edmund's Nursery School.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Education

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Nursery School Programs (2–4 Years) (EDACACAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Nursery School Readiness & Transition Programs (EDACACAL)

Keywords

• Early childhood education
• Nursery school services
• Childcare provision
• Early years education
• Preschool education

Headquarters

HQ city

Bradford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Childcare Session Fees: Parents pay for additional sessions beyond funded hours. Fees are charged per session (morning, afternoon, full day, breakfast, lunchtime, after-school). Invoiced monthly in advance.
2. Government Funded Early Education Hours: The school receives funding from Bradford Council for providing free early education hours to eligible 2-year-olds (15 hours), all 3-4 year olds (15 hours), and working families with children 9 months to 3 years (15-30 hours). This funding covers 38 weeks per year.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lilycroft Nursery School provides early years nursery education and childcare for children aged two to five, following the Birth to Five Matters curriculum framework. Services are delivered through a combination of government-funded hours (15-30 free hours per week) and parent-paid session fees (full day, morning, afternoon, breakfast, lunchtime, after-school), invoiced monthly in advance. Additional provision includes SEND support, Early Years Pupil Premium enrichment, home visits via the Getting to Know You programme, and Play and Learn community sessions for under-fives.

Product overview

Lilycroft Nursery School operates as a single-site early childhood education provider offering a unified nursery programme for children aged two to five. The core offering is the Nursery Education Programme, which follows the Birth to Five Matters curriculum framework and is delivered through various session types (Play and Learn, funded hours, and paid sessions). Additional services include the Early Years Pupil Premium Support add-on for eligible children, SEND Support Services for children with special educational needs, and the Playing and Learning at Home resource programme for family engagement. The school also offers paid childcare extensions including breakfast, lunch, and tea sessions as add-on modules to the core funded education provision.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nursery Education Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• 81% of EYPP children achieved good or better progress in Communication and Language on exit
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bradford Birth To 19coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Bradford Birth To 19 is a partner organization providing resources and support for early years education in the Bradford area. Their logo appears on the Lilycroft website as a recognized partner.
• St Edmund's Nursery SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLilycroft and St Edmund's Nursery Schools formed a federation in 2019, sharing governing body, ethos, and practice. St Edmund's is an Early Years Enhanced Specialist Provision (EYESP) Hub providing specialist SEND places allocated by the Local Authority. Holiday childcare for Lilycroft families is provided at St Edmund's during school holidays.
• 50 Things To DominorStrategic or Co-development Partner50 Things To Do Before You're Five is a Bradford-based program that Lilycroft participates in, encouraging families to learn together through everyday play activities. The school links to their website and uses their resources for home learning activities.
• Communication Friendly (Speech and Language)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLilycroft has earned Communication Friendly status, demonstrating their commitment to creating a communication-supportive environment. Partner organization is the Speech and Language UK resource library for educators.
• Bradford Family HubsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBradford's Family Hubs & Best Start in Life initiative provides a free website with support for local families from pregnancy through starting school. Lilycroft directs families to this resource for additional support services.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• N Family Club: Premium UK nursery chain offering early years education and care with strong focus on development and parent communication. Comparable in curriculum approach and parent engagement, though commercially scaled and branded.
• Bright Horizons Family Solutions: Major UK and US nursery operator offering full-day early years education and care for working families. Comparable in delivering EYFS-aligned curriculum and funded-hour services, though at much greater scale and as a for-profit corporate provider.
• Childbase Partnership: Employee-owned UK nursery group running around 40 nurseries. Comparable in delivering high-quality early years education with strong Ofsted ratings and funded-hour acceptance, but operates a multi-site corporate model.
• Busy Bees Nurseries: UK's largest private nursery chain with hundreds of sites. Comparable in core offering (early years education and childcare for 0-5) but operates a commercial, multi-site model rather than a maintained local authority school.
• Tops Day Nurseries: UK nursery chain with multiple sites offering early years education and wraparound childcare. Comparable in EYFS-aligned delivery and acceptance of government funded hours, though operates a commercial multi-site model.
• Kidsunlimited (Kids Unlimited Nurseries): UK nursery chain providing early years education and childcare across multiple sites. Comparable in EYFS curriculum delivery and acceptance of government funded hours, though commercially operated rather than maintained.

Regional players

• Partou Childcare: Large Dutch nursery operator with a growing UK presence. Comparable in early years education and funded childcare delivery, but primarily Netherlands-based and not directly competing in Bradford.

Direct peers

• St Edmund's Nursery School: Federation partner of Lilycroft, also a maintained nursery school in Bradford sharing the same governing body, ethos, and SEND Hub (EYESP) status. Operates 50 weeks/year making it the most directly comparable peer with operational overlap.

Others

• Early Years Alliance: UK sector membership body supporting maintained nursery schools and PVI providers with training, resources, and policy advocacy. Comparable as an ecosystem partner for curriculum and safeguarding support, not a direct competitor.

Emerging players

• Norwood College Nursery (and similar Jewish/community nurseries): Community-rooted, mission-driven nurseries operating in specific UK locations. Comparable in community-led GTM motion and focus on inclusive education, though typically smaller and faith-based rather than local authority maintained.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lilycroft-nursery-school

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lilycroft Nursery School