Today (2 December) Ofsted published its annual report 2024/25 looking across early years, schools and further education, children’s social care and skills in England.

Disadvantage and access

Ofsted has introduced a measure of access to childcare, showing that access is spread unevenly across the country with areas of childcare “deserts”. Childcare deserts were found to be most common in areas of disadvantage, leading to a widening gap in outcomes between disadvantaged children and their peers. Ofsted’s new focus on inclusion aims to help providers address the needs of the most economically disadvantaged and vulnerable children in a setting, which will ultimately benefit all children.

Quality and qualifications

Ofsted’s report reflects on serious incidents in early years settings. Ofsted has worked with the government and inspectors on safe practices around sleep and feeding with a focus on babies. The report highlights that more highly-qualified staff are likely to have better knowledge and understanding of quality education and childcare.

Childminders and inspection

Of inspections carried out over the past year, childminders received the highest overall effectiveness judgements of all early year provider types (94% childminders were judged ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in 2024/25, compared to 90% of all provider types).

Inspection reforms

The report also highlights Ofsted’s renewed education framework with a new approach on reporting to give more detail on a provider’s strengths and areas for improvement. Coram PACEY has published a wealth of resources to support you with the new Ofsted inspection framework, including brand-new FAQs for childminders.

If you have had an inspection under the renewed framework in England, we’d love to hear your feedback. Please email us: policy@corampacey.org.uk.