scores at 51 months due to on-going centre-based childcare arrangement supports the suggestion that family SES and maternal stimulation are more relevant than the centre care if the family is advantaged. This study was conducted at a time when there was less centre-care available, before the emergence of Sure Start Children’s Centres. [35] Their higher cost meant that it was mainly professional women who used centre care from early in their child’s life. This may not be the case currently with more centres available in disadvantaged areas. The variability in other results, depending on the type and changes in childcare, suggest that, when policies are developed aiming to enhance the cognitive development of children, they should take patterns of childcare into account.