From 10 November 2025, Ofsted inspects nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England using a new framework and publishes the result as a report card. The old four-grade system (Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate) has not disappeared from the register, but any setting inspected from November 2025 receives the new format instead.
What a report card contains
- Six evaluation areas, each given one of five grades: inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children’s welfare and wellbeing; and leadership and governance. The six areas are explained separately.
- Safeguarding, shown as met or not met. It is not graded on the five-point scale.
- Narrative summaries of strengths and areas for improvement.
- No overall grade. Ofsted says it no longer issues overall effectiveness grades.
For settings that do not teach the learning and development requirements, such as before- and after-school clubs, the curriculum and achievement areas do not apply.
The five-point scale
The grades are urgent improvement, needs attention, expected standard, strong standard and exceptional. Ofsted says inspectors’ starting point is the expected standard in each area. The scale is explained in its own guide. In brief, “expected standard” means the setting meets the standard Ofsted expects. It is not a middle-of-the-road or second-best result.
Why there is no overall grade
Ofsted’s reason is that parents asked for more detail than a single word could give. The press release introducing the reform said the report card combines at-a-glance grades with narrative summaries, and that polling found nearly 7 in 10 parents preferred it to the older reports. LondonEY does not add the grades together or create a score. Where we summarise a report card in a list, for example “Strong in 4 of 6 areas”, we say so and link to the official report.
How inspections work
- Early years inspections are normally carried out by one inspector. They last about 3 hours for a childminder, 4 hours for a group setting with restricted daily hours and 6 hours for a full-day setting.
- The setting is notified by phone and must tell parents that an inspection is taking place.
- Ofsted sends a draft report card to the setting, in most cases within 18 working days of the end of the inspection. The setting has 5 working days to comment on factual accuracy and clarity. The final report card is normally sent within 30 working days of the end of the inspection and published on the Ofsted reports website about 5 working days after that.
- If a setting has no children on roll at the time, Ofsted does a check on whether it is still suitable to be registered. It is not a full inspection and produces a met or not met outcome.
How often settings are inspected
Settings on the Early Years Register will normally be inspected at least once within a 4-year window. The window is being phased in from April 2026, with full implementation expected by March 2030. The previous cycle was 6 years. New providers are normally inspected within 18 months of registering. The next inspection comes sooner for lower grades:
- within 12 months if any area is graded ‘needs attention’
- within 6 months if any area is graded ‘urgent improvement’
Ofsted may inspect sooner if it has concerns, and may inspect without notice.
Which settings get a report card
Ofsted inspects childminders and group settings registered on the Early Years Register. Schools that admit children aged 2 and over are normally not registered for that provision. They are inspected under the school inspection framework, which has its own report card, so a maintained nursery school or school nursery class does not get an early years report card. Schools that admit children younger than 2 must register and are inspected under the early years arrangements.
The framework is still being updated
The inspection toolkit was updated in June 2026 for use from 1 September 2026. Changes include an extra standard in the welfare area on safer sleeping, eating and weaning for babies, and clearer wording on what makes safeguarding ‘not met’. If you read a report from late 2025 and one from late 2026, the headings are the same.
How to read a report card
- Check the date and whether it is a report card or an older report.
- Look at the safeguarding outcome first.
- Read the six grades, then the written summary of strengths and areas to improve.
- Compare the areas to what matters to your child, for example inclusion if your child has additional needs, or welfare and wellbeing for a baby.
- Ask the setting what it has changed since the inspection.
See how to check a nursery for more steps, and Ofsted legacy grades for the older reports.
Questions
What is an Ofsted report card?
It is the written outcome of an Ofsted inspection, published on the Ofsted reports website. For early years settings inspected from 10 November 2025 it shows grades in six areas, a safeguarding outcome of met or not met, and written summaries.
Is “expected standard” good?
Yes. It means the setting meets the standard Ofsted expects in that area. Ofsted’s inspectors begin from the expected standard. Strong standard and exceptional are higher grades, and needs attention and urgent improvement are lower.
Why has my nursery still got an old Outstanding or Good grade?
Ofsted has not inspected it under the new framework yet. Settings graded Outstanding or Good for overall effectiveness before November 2025 can keep using the matching Ofsted logos until their next graded inspection, after which they must remove them. See the legacy grades guide.
How often are nurseries inspected?
Normally at least once within 4 years, phased in from April 2026. Settings with an area graded needs attention are inspected within about 12 months, and urgent improvement within about 6 months.