• Find an early years and childcare inspection report
• Understanding an early years and childcare inspection report
• Types of early years and childcare Ofsted inspects
• Inspecting early years and childcare
  • Inspecting registered early years providers
  • Inspecting registered childcare providers
    • Before a Childcare Register inspection
    • During a Childcare Register inspection
    • After a Childcare Register inspection
• Types of early years and childcare Ofsted regulates
• Caring for children in their own home
• Regulating early years and childcare; applying to be a provider
• Safeguarding children
• Children's centres
• About our survey reports
• How to complain

Inspecting registered childcare providers

Childcare Register inspections are carried out by inspectors who work on our behalf, and are trained to inspect childcare providers.

The purpose of the inspection is to check that you are meeting the requirements of your registration and any conditions attached to it. Childcare providers are registered on the Childcare Register, which has two parts:

• the voluntary part, for providers who are not eligible for compulsory registration (mainly people looking after children aged eight and over, or providing care in the child’s home)
• the compulsory part, for providers who care for one or more children aged five- to eight-years-old, where registration is required.

We inspect a random selection of all those that are only on the Childcare Register. We inspect all providers who are also on the Early Years Register at the same time as the Early Years Register inspection.

We will always inspect if we get a complaint that relates to the requirements of registration or any conditions we’ve imposed.

You will get little or no notice of an inspection, but we will tell you whether the inspection has been triggered by a complaint or is a random selection; we do this on arrival and not in advance.

Inspections usually take up to two hours, and are done by one inspector.

Inspection letter

Following the inspection we will send you a letter. This either confirms that you meet the requirements for registration, or sets out what you must do in order to remain registered. These letters are published on this website – see the Find an early years and childcare inspection report page on the left.