Ofsted: early years

Getting the right DBS when registering with Ofsted

Alex Magloire, Deputy Director, Early Years Regulatory Practice, 21 November 2023 - Childminder registration, Early years, Nannies

Childminders and childcare workers, such as nannies, are responsible for the safety and well-being of children in their care. Ofsted is legally required to check an applicant’s suitability at the point of registration. For daycare providers, it is the provider’s responsibility …

Calling all early years applicants

Alex Magloire, Deputy Director, Early Years Regulatory Practice, 17 October 2023 - Childminder registration, Early years, Nannies

Once you have submitted your application to register with Ofsted, we will give you a call to discuss your application. At this stage we want to make sure everything you have included in your form is correct, to avoid any …

Giving all children the best start in life

Lee Owston, Deputy Director, Schools and Early Education, 11 September 2023 - Early years

A child’s early education lasts a lifetime. That’s why giving all children ‘the best start in life’ is crucial and one of Ofsted’s strategic priorities. In this blog, I want to update you on some of the work we’ve been …

Early years resources, information and updates

Lee Owston, Deputy Director, Schools and Early Education, 22 August 2023 - Early years

We know it’s a difficult time for the early years (EY) sector. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to find all the information you need from us so that you can focus on the children …

Expanding our pilot to streamline early years registration

Yvette Stanley, National Director Regulation and Social Care, 28 July 2023 - Early years

In November, we published a blog about our plans to streamline the early years registration process. Pilot programme Over the past few months, we have carried out a pilot, testing whether we could speed up the process by changing when …

Our early years curriculum roadshows on the education inspection framework (EIF)

Wendy Ratcliff HMI, Principal Officer, Early Education, 24 May 2023 - Early years

We’re on the final stretch of our journey around the country delivering our early years curriculum roadshows on the education inspection framework (EIF). Now seems a good time to look at how far we’ve come and where we’re going to …

How staff-to-child ratios work

Alex Magloire, Deputy Director, Early Years Regulatory Practice, 20 April 2023 - Childminder registration, Early years, Nannies

The Chancellor recently announced an optional change to childcare ratios from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-old children. This change will apply from September 2023. All other staff-to-child ratios remain the same. While the Department for Education sets the ratios, we …

Ofsted's 2023 priorities for early years

Lee Owston, Deputy Director, Schools and Early Education and Yvette Stanley, National Director Regulation and Social Care, 2 February 2023 - Childminder registration, Early years, Nannies

Before looking ahead to what 2023 will hold for the early years sector, it's worth reflecting on the year that has just passed. Ofsted ended the year with the publication of our Annual Report, which provides an overview of what …

'What do I need to do to prepare for my early years inspection?'

Wendy Ratcliff HMI, Principal Officer, Early Education, 25 January 2023 - Early years

We want practitioners to have the confidence and freedom to do what they do every day. Our inspectors are tasked with finding out what it is like for children to attend their setting not just on the day of the inspection but every day. Therefore, we ask providers not to do anything differently just for the inspection.

Streamlining the early years registration process

Alex Magloire, Deputy Director, Early Years Regulatory Practice, 25 November 2022 - Childminder registration, Early years

Being a right-touch regulator is one of our new strategic priorities. This means ensuring that our regulation promotes high-quality care, education, and safeguarding for children, while being proportionate in our approach and reducing any unnecessary bureaucracy or burden. We’re also …

Blog Ofsted: early years

Getting the right DBS when registering with Ofsted

Calling all early years applicants

Giving all children the best start in life

Early years resources, information and updates

Expanding our pilot to streamline early years registration

Our early years curriculum roadshows on the education inspection framework (EIF)

How staff-to-child ratios work

Ofsted's 2023 priorities for early years

'What do I need to do to prepare for my early years inspection?'

Streamlining the early years registration process

About 'Ofsted blog: early years'

Sign up and manage updates

Follow us

Recent Posts

Archives

Ofsted and privacy

Related content and links