Analysis of 900 job advertisements undertaken between October – December 2015 showed that early years settings graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted paid non-supervisory staff an average of £1.45 per hour more than those deemed ‘inadequate’ or ‘requiring improvement’. These findings are significant as it is only high quality early years provision that has the capacity to narrow the developmental gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers, a stated objective of Government policy.