Early years providers will be inspected against seven evaluation areas which align with the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework. The Early years inspection toolkit sets out the areas that will be evaluated and graded on inspections and outlines how an inspector will consider the evaluation areas in different types of provision type, for example childminders, out-of-school providers and providers with no children on roll.  You should take some time to read the full toolkit as it can also be used by leaders to support self-evaluation and continuous improvement.

Here are the details the evaluation areas, what they consider and what Ofsted will recognise and consider in childminder settings.

Safeguarding

This evaluation area considers:

• whether the setting establishes an open and positive safeguarding culture that puts children’s interests first
• the extent to which leaders take an effective, whole-setting approach to safeguarding

When evaluating safeguarding in childminder settings, inspectors recognise that:

• childminders are the leaders and practitioners in their setting and, therefore, any references to leaders apply to the childminder; references to practitioners or staff apply to the childminder and any assistants
• childminders often work alone, so inspectors will be sensitive to the context of each childminder and work flexibly to ensure that the childminder is able to continue to meet the needs of the children in their care
• decisions about and checks on the suitability of childminder assistants are made by Ofsted, whereas other types of providers complete these checks themselves

Inclusion

This evaluation area considers how leaders and practitioners identify and support:

• socioeconomically disadvantaged children (those eligible for the early years pupil premium EYPP)
• children with SEND; this means children receiving special educational needs (SEN) support and those with an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• children who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care, such as children in need and looked-after children
• children who may face other barriers to their learning and/or well-being, which may include children who share a protected characteristic

When evaluating inclusion for children with SEND across different early years settings, inspectors:

• consider the context of the setting and the type of provision
• work closely with the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) to evaluate how well the setting identifies and supports children with SEND

In childminder settings, the childminder is likely to assume the role of the SENCo.

Curriculum and teaching* 

This evaluation area considers:

• whether leaders ensure that they provide all children with a high-quality, ambitious curriculum
• whether leaders and practitioners plan, design and implement the educational programmes of the EYFS statutory framework to create a coherent and sequential curriculum that builds on what children know and can do
• the extent to which the setting’s curriculum meets the needs of the range of ages and stages of children who attend, especially disadvantaged children, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care, and those who may face barriers to their learning and/or well-being

When evaluating curriculum and teaching in childminder settings, inspectors recognise that:

• childminders are the leaders and practitioners in their setting and, therefore, any references to leaders apply to the childminder; references to practitioners or staff apply to the childminder and any assistants
• while childminders must meet the same learning and development requirements of the EYFS as group providers, they are likely to work differently from group providers to achieve the same curriculum aims
• childminders often work alone, so inspectors are sensitive to the context of each childminder and work flexibly to ensure that the childminder is able to continue to meet the needs of the children in their care

Achievement* 

This evaluation area considers:

• whether the setting provides a high-quality education that gives all children, especially disadvantaged children, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care, and those who may face barriers to their learning and/or well-being, the necessary knowledge so they are ready for the next stage in education, including school, where relevant
• the progress that children make from their starting points across the 7 areas of learning and development set out in the EYFS statutory framework, so that they know more, remember more and can do more

When evaluating achievement in childminder settings, inspectors recognise that:

• childminders are the leaders and practitioners in their setting and, therefore, any references to leaders apply to the childminder; references to practitioners or staff apply to the childminder and any assistants
• childminders often work alone, so inspectors are sensitive to the context of each childminder and work flexibly to ensure that the childminder is able to continue to meet the needs of the children in their care

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines 

This evaluation area considers whether:

• leaders and practitioners create an environment that positively supports children’s learning, development and care
• leaders and practitioners support children’s behaviour and attitudes, including how they teach children to understand and manage their own emotions and behaviour and to relate to others
• settings work with parents to establish routines, including by promoting attendance, so that children, especially those receiving additional funding, including the EYPP, form good habits for future learning
• the setting has an impact on the behaviour, attitudes and routines of children receiving additional support, including disadvantaged children, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or well-being

When evaluating behaviour and attitudes and establishing routines in childminder settings, inspectors recognise that:

• childminders are the leaders and practitioners in their setting and, therefore, any references to leaders apply to the childminder; references to practitioners or staff apply to the childminder and any assistants
• childminders often work alone, so inspectors will be sensitive to the context of each childminder and work flexibly to ensure that they are able to continue to meet the needs of the children in their care

Children’s welfare and well-being 

This evaluation area considers how the setting:

• promotes children’s welfare and well-being
• ensures that children receive the care and support they need to achieve and thrive in the setting and beyond

When evaluating children’s welfare and well-being in childminder settings, inspectors recognise that:

• childminders are the leaders and practitioners in their setting and, therefore, any references to leaders apply to the childminder; references to practitioners or staff apply to the childminder and any assistants
• childminders often work alone, so inspectors are sensitive to the context of each childminder and work flexibly to ensure that the childminder is able to continue to meet the needs of the babies and children in their care

Leadership and governance 

This evaluation area considers:

• whether leaders and governors understand and meet the statutory requirements set out in the EYFS
• the commitment of leaders and those responsible for governance to provide high standards of education and care to improve the lives of all children, especially those receiving statutory support, including disadvantaged children, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care, and those who may face barriers to their learning and/or well-being

When evaluating leadership and governance in childminder settings, inspectors recognise that:

• childminders are the leaders and practitioners in their setting and, therefore, any references to leaders apply to the childminder; references to practitioners or staff apply to the childminder and any assistants
• childminders often work alone, so inspectors are sensitive to the context of each childminder and work flexibly to ensure that the childminder is able to continue to meet the needs of the children in their care

*These evaluation areas will not apply for out-of-school childcare settings

With the exception of Safeguarding, Ofsted will use a 5-point scale to grade the evaluations areas. Safeguarding is evaluated on a ‘met’/‘not met’ scale.

The evaluation scale for each evaluation area, other than safeguarding, is:

• Exceptional (highest quality provision)
• Strong standard
• Expected standard
• Needs attention
• Urgent improvement (lowest quality provision)

Meeting standards and determining grades

The Early years inspection operating guide for inspectors sets out how inspectors evaluation against the toolkit evaluation areas and grading standards. It says:

Inspectors will gather reliable evidence in an evaluation area to support an indicative grade, considering whether all the expected standards are reached. They will then consider whether all the strong grading standards have also been reached securely. At this point, they might have enough evidence to consider the ‘exceptional’ grade. 

Where the evaluation standards are not reached

If the ‘expected standard’ is not met in any evaluation area, this means that there are breaches of the EYFS requirements that need to be addressed as a priority.

Needs attention

If the breaches of the EYFS requirements do not have a significant impact on children’s safety, well-being and/or learning and development, and inspectors do not have concerns about the provider’s suitability, the evaluation area should be graded as ‘needs attention’.

Inspectors will set actions for the provider to meet the relevant statutory requirements relating to the root cause of the breaches.

In addition to this, an evaluation area is likely to be graded as ‘needs attention’ when:

• the ‘expected standard’ grade has not been reached, and
• no ‘urgent improvement’ indicators apply

Urgent improvement

If breaches to the EYFS requirements do have a significant impact on children’s safety, well-being and/or learning and development, and/or inspectors have concerns about the provider’s suitability, the evaluation area is graded ‘urgent improvement’.

If inspectors find breaches of the EYFS requirements that pose significant risks to children’s safety and/or welfare, they will need to explore enforcement action. The type of enforcement action Ofsted can take is set out in the early years enforcement policy.

Inspectors should use the relevant expected standards to help craft the setting’s next steps, including the associated prompts in the ‘gathering evidence’ section of the relevant evaluation area.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding will be graded as ‘met’ overall if all the individual safeguarding standards are ‘met’ and none of the ‘not met’ standards apply.

During the inspection, inspectors may identify minor improvements that the setting needs to make to its safeguarding practices, such as correcting small administrative errors in paperwork or updating policies. If these do not have a direct impact on children’s safety and/or well-being, and leaders can make these minor improvements easily before the end of the on-site inspection, inspector will give leaders every chance to do so by discussing this constructively with them.

Sometimes, leaders cannot finish making the required minor improvements before the end of the on-site inspection. When this is the case, inspectors can still grade safeguarding as ‘met’ if they have taken the necessary steps to resolve the issues, for example where training has been booked, but will not take place for a number of weeks.

Importantly, the minor improvements should be such that, if they were not made straight away, leaving them undone would not have an immediate and/or significant impact on children’s safety.

A ‘not met’ grade for the safeguarding evaluation area does not automatically mean the setting will be graded ‘urgent improvement’ in other evaluation areas. Inspectors will evaluate the impact of the breaches to establish the appropriate grade for other evaluation areas.

The setting will likely be reinspected within 6 months if safeguarding is ‘not met’, but there can be enforcement activity in between if required.

Ofsted is likely to take enforcement action, for example serve a welfare requirements notice, when a provider is failing to meet one or more of the safeguarding and welfare requirements that has a significant impact on children’s health, safety and well-being.

Ofsted is introducing new inspection report cards to provide parents with at-a-glance grades as well as short narrative summaries of a provider’s strengths and areas for improvement. These are designed to be accessible on digital devices.

Watch this video to see an example of an Early years report card:

The Early years inspection information details information about the inspection process, including the overall inspection focus.

Ofsted’s renewed inspections reflect a significant shift in inspection culture. There is a stronger emphasis on leadership as a driver of sustained improvement, and on inclusion.

Inspections will be grounded in respectful professional dialogue, focused on impact and designed to support self-improvement and inclusive practice. They are structured but also flexible, adapting to context, responding to evidence and concentrating on what matters most for children. Inspectors work with leaders to build an accurate view of the quality of the setting.

Key principles

Outlined in the operating guide for inspectors are 3 key principles of inspection:

Principle 1

Throughout the inspection, Ofsted inspectors will gather evidence to celebrate your setting’s strengths, validate leaders’ priorities and progress and highlight where improvement is needed. In doing so, they will consider the extent to which children:

• achieve – develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need
• belong – feel safe, welcomed and valued
• thrive – benefit from the right systems, processes and levels of oversight so that they are kept safe and are able to flourish, whatever their background or individual needs

Principle 2

Leadership, inclusion and whether there is an open and positive safeguarding culture are key areas of focus when gathering evidence.

Principle 3

The ‘expected standard’ in the evaluation areas in the toolkit is the starting point for inspection activities.

From April 2026, Ofsted has committed to increase the frequency of routine inspections for regulated early years providers to a 4- year inspection window instead of the current 6-year cycle and inspect new early years providers within 12 to 18 months of registering, down from the current wait of up to 30 months.  

Ofsted’s first duty is to the children and learners they are charged with protecting. It is their job to call out practice that undermines children’s safety or robs them of their one chance at an education that allows them to thrive.

Ofsted are committed to reducing workload and promoting well-being remaining central to their approach. While maintaining their focus on raising standards and holding providers to account. Ofsted believe giving education professionals time and space to receive support allows them to do their best to raise standards and protect children.

Alongside the report on the responses to the consultation, Ofsted have published an Independent well-being impact assessment of the revised Ofsted framework by Sinéad McBrearty, Chief Executive Officer at Education Support. It emphasises how it will prioritise consistency and fairness, giving inspectors bespoke training to ensure consistency among different types of settings (including childminders) and ensuring toolkits and new operating guides are reflective of this. Inspectors will also use a new planning call to understand a provider’s context, strengths and areas for improvement. This is a chance to develop a relationship with the inspector and discuss your provision beforehand. 

The report recognised that any change to the framework is likely to result in stress due to the potential workload consequences that may come from adapting to a renewed framework. Ofsted are doing what they can to alleviate the pressures of that change on professionals, while being true to their duties to children and learners, and their responsibilities to parents and carers to offer them the nuanced information they have called for.

How the new inspection methodology supports providers’ and inspectors’ well-being and workload

First and foremost, nothing in the standards set out in the toolkits should add to a provider’s workload. The toolkits are built on the requirements, standards and expectations already placed on leaders and their provision. This includes statutory and non-statutory guidance and standards that professionals should be meeting. They are also based on the research and inspection evidence that suggests the most effective strategies in securing better outcomes for all children and learners.

Ofsted believe inspections will help providers focus on meeting those expectations more efficiently and effectively. They do not expect any provider to be doing more than it needs to just ‘for Ofsted’.

Read more about what Ofsted are doing to address the workload and well-being implications of our inspection reform in the Improving the way Ofsted inspects education: report on the responses to the consultation