Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with early years settings to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most frequently asked questions below, so you can see all the …
Keeping children safe is paramount. That’s why we do everything we can to make sure that childcare provision is safe and secure, and that it meets the needs of children at all times. Ofsted has various powers to help us …
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is funded by the Department for Education (DfE). The aim of the programme is to help families with enrichment activities and food for children throughout the holiday periods. The programme is for children …
I’ve now been in the post of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector for nearly two months. It has been an incredibly busy but rewarding start to this new role. As you may know, I come from a schools background, having been …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
This blog post refers to roadshows that took place in 2022 and 2023. 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 …
This blog was updated in September 2025 to reflect changes to the EYFS paragraph numbers. The Chancellor recently announced an optional change to childcare ratios from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-old children. This change applies from September 2023. All other …