What LondonEY is
LondonEY (London Early Years) is a free guide to early-years settings across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. It helps parents and carers find a nursery, pre-school, nursery school or school nursery class near them, see what Ofsted has said about it, and understand what childcare costs and what funding is available.
We built it because the existing directories are patchy. Many list only the settings that pay to be listed, and some let payment change the order or hide competitors. LondonEY starts from the official records instead.
What we cover
- Nurseries and pre-schools registered with Ofsted on the Early Years Register, including full day care and sessional settings.
- Maintained nursery schools and state-funded schools that have a nursery class, from the Department for Education’s register of schools.
- Independent schools that take children under five.
- Childminders, as totals only for each borough. Ofsted deliberately redacts childminders’ names and addresses, and we do not publish them. See how we handle childminders.
At launch we do not list out-of-school clubs and holiday clubs. They may come later as a separate guide.
Every area page shows all the settings we hold for that area, as rows linked to the official Ofsted report. A setting gets its own LondonEY profile page only once we have checked enough facts to make it useful. We publish profiles borough by borough, so you will see more over time.
How we stay neutral
- We never sell rank. Payment does not change the order of any list and does not hide any setting.
- Paid placements are labelled “Sponsored” and sit in a separate band. Read the sponsor terms.
- Ofsted results are shown the same way for everyone, including sponsors. We do not pick the best-looking grade.
- Facts only. If we do not know a fee, a funded-hours offer or an opening time, we say so rather than guess.
- We do not review settings ourselves. We report what Ofsted and the Department for Education publish, and we link to the original so you can read it in full.
The full detail is on the data and methodology page.
How LondonEY is funded
At launch the site earns money from sponsored placements, which settings and family businesses can buy for a page or area. We may add other paid options for providers later, such as extra photos on a profile. None of them will be allowed to affect ranking or hide other settings, and we will say so on the page where they appear.
Not affiliated with Ofsted or the government
LondonEY is an independent website. It is not run, endorsed or approved by Ofsted, the Department for Education, the Greater London Authority, any London borough council or Transport for London. We use their public data under the Open Government Licence. The name “LondonEY” has no connection with any other organisation using the letters “EY”.
Who is behind it
LondonEY (London Early Years) is an independent website. You can reach us at hello@londonearlyyears.com or through the contact page.
Get in touch
- Spotted a mistake? Use the correction form.
- Run a setting? You can claim your listing to add fees, funded places and photos, or see the provider page.
- Anything else: contact us.