What does a nursery's Ofsted grade mean?

Every registered nursery and pre-school in England is inspected by Ofsted. The grades on The Nursery Register are the overall grade from each nursery's most recent full inspection, as published by Ofsted.

The four grades

• Outstanding: the highest grade. Children are doing exceptionally well.
• Good: most nurseries are rated Good. A Good nursery is meeting children's needs well.
• Requires improvement: not yet good. Ofsted will usually inspect again sooner.
• Inadequate: serious weaknesses. Ofsted takes action and inspects again.

"Not yet inspected"

New nurseries, or nurseries that changed owner, may not have had a full inspection yet. It doesn't mean anything is wrong. Ask the nursery when they expect their first inspection.

Read the report, not just the grade

The written report tells you much more: how well children learn, how safe they are, and what the nursery should improve. Every nursery page on our site links to its Ofsted report. Check the inspection date too: an older grade tells you less about the nursery today.

Changes to inspections

Ofsted is changing how it reports on schools and early years settings, with separate judgements for different areas. Newer reports may look different from older ones. Always check the report itself on the Ofsted website.