After an Early Years Register inspection

After the inspection, the inspector writes a short report which will include:

the grade that the inspector gave you at the end of the inspection
a brief summary on the quality of your service and overall how well it supports the children you look after
a brief summary on how well you manage your service
a brief summary on how effective any improvements have been since your last inspection
what, if anything, must now be done to improve the quality of your service
and, where applicable, details about:
whether or not you comply with Early Years Register requirements, and any action which is needed to make sure you do,
or, rarely, other enforcement action, such as cancellation of your registration.

If you are also on the Childcare Register, the report will also have a judgement about compliance with the requirements of that register and any actions needed to make sure that you do comply.

Inspection report

Soon after the inspection we will send you your report, which you should check to make sure you agree that it is factually correct.

If you find any factual inaccuracies, for example in the names of places the children have been taken on visits, or in the number of children you look after, you should tell us immediately so that we can correct them before the inspection report is published on this website.

All inspection reports are published on this website within 20 days of the end of the inspection. You must give a copy of the report to each parent of the children you look after, and to anyone else who asks for a copy. The report published on the website will not include your name and address.

Inspectors use a four-point grading scale to make judgements. This is:

Grade 1: outstanding – exceptional and way above the norm
Grade 2: good – strong, and children are well cared for
Grade 3: satisfactory – sound, but could be better
Grade 4: inadequate: category 1 – weak and giving cause for concern, likely to improve without external help and support
Grade 4: inadequate: category 2 – poor, needing urgent attention. Giving cause for concern and unlikely to improve without enforcement action, and help and support from external agencies.

Outstanding providers

Outstanding providers are entitled to use the special Ofsted outstanding provider logo. If you are judged outstanding, we will send you a pack after your report appears on our website. It contains:

a congratulatory letter signed by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector
an outstanding provider certificate
a CD with a copy of the Ofsted outstanding provider logo and guidance on how it should be used.

If we judge your setting to be inadequate, either category 1 or 2, we will tell your local authority, in other words the council. This may affect your eligibility for funding.

Further information

Guidance for inspection is in Are you ready for your inspection? A guide to inspections of provision on Ofsted’s Childcare and Early Years Registers. This is also sent to all newly-registered providers and gives information about what inspectors look for and on what they base their judgements.
Using the early years evaluation schedule: guidance for inspectors of registered early years settings required to deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage
Guidance for inspectors of Early Years settings is in Conducting early years inspections.
The framework document for Early Years regulation is Framework for the regulation of those on the Early Years and Childcare Registers.