The first major study into the Conservatives’ controversial shake-up of childcare has revealed that nursery staff are often doing more “crowd control” than education, because of the increased number of children they are looking after. Since September last year, nurseries in England have been allowed to increase child-to-staff ratios, so one adult now looks after five two-year-olds rather than four. The change was intended to help deliver the party’s pledge of 15 hours’ free childcare a week from this month for working parents of children aged from nine months to three years. But according to the study, shared with the Observer, a third of staff (32%) at nurseries that followed the new guidelines feel that quality has been hit. The survey of 152 early-years settings by researchers at Northampton and Nottingham Trent universities, heard from staff who felt they were now “simply firefighting”, with some admitting that arrangements for two-year-olds were no longer safe. The findings will increase pressure on Labour, which has committed to double the number of free hours a week to 30 next September. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has promised a “sea change” in early-years education, but critics warned that the situation will get worse unless nurseries can hire more staff. Aaron Bradbury, lecturer in early childhood studies at Nottingham Trent University, who co-authored the research, said: “We found those who increased their ratios are often experiencing real problems, with children left to cry or hurting themselves because staff are overwhelmed.” He said that many providers had “stuck to their principles” and refused to increase the number of children per adult, but with the sector in deep crisis and many nurseries closing, others had had to take more children “just to keep the lights on”. Calling on the Labour government to conduct an urgent review following these “damning” results, Bradbury said: “This was only ever about cost-cutting, but parents want their children to be nurtured and safe.” One practitioner who responded to the anonymous survey said: “It makes my role impossible. “Instead of educating, I’m simply crowd control.” She added that older pre-schoolers were often left to their own devices. Another said: “We often find it difficult to give children the attention they need.” She said that if one staff member had to go and change a nappy or help an injured child, their colleague would often be left in charge of so many children that it was “unsafe”. A nursery director with 20 years’ experience agreed. Staff were “more obviously stressed” under the new ratio, which meant they interacted with the children differently and, as a result, “­children are less happy and less engaged in play”. Over a quarter of respondents (27%) said the change had harmed staff wellbeing, with many nursery heads reporting staff absent with sickness or stress, and more staff leaving. One director said staff were lasting an average of four to five months. Another nursery director said: “Why would you work in such an incredibly stressful environment when you can stack shelves for more money?” Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, which represents 14,000 providers of care and education to under-fives in England, said: “The sector is on its knees, and we have a recruitment and retention ­crisis worse than ever before, so ministers were out of their minds to increase ratios.” Leitch said: “The [Conservative] government made this announcement about two-year-olds being entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week and then thought, ‘How the hell are we going to deliver this?’. “Nurseries shouldn’t just watch over children; we should help them develop.” David Wright, co-founder of the Paint Pots group of 13 nurseries and pre-schools in Hampshire, which hasn’t increased ratios, said: “You’ve only got one pair of arms and can only respond to one child at a time.” A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We hear the concerns from the sector about the balance between managing finances, staffing and offering the places parents need.” The spokesperson added that the staff-to-child ratios “are a minimum requirement – there is no obligation to adopt them”.