Official Statistics

Main findings: childcare providers and inspections as at 31 August 2020

Updated 26 August 2021

Applies to England

This is the main findings report for the childcare providers and inspections as at 31 August 2020 release. The following are also available:

• underlying data
• methodology
• pre-release access list

Summary

This release contains:

• the number of Ofsted-registered childcare providers and places and their most recent inspection outcomes on 31 August 2020
• the number of providers that have registered with Ofsted (joiners) and the number that have left (leavers) between 31 March 2020 and 31 August 2020

lmpact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on this release

Due to COVID-19, no routine inspections were carried out since March 2020 and during the period covered by this release. However, since the last release, 1,333 reports were published for inspections that took place before 31 March 2020. This had a minor impact on the overall effectiveness of active providers at their most recent inspection. More information about the revised inspection data can be found in the inspection outcomes section.

Ofsted’s regulatory and enforcement activity, including registration of new providers, has continued during the current reporting period. For more information about the number of active providers, see the providers, registers and places section of this page.

The proportion of providers judged good or outstanding at their most recent inspection remains unchanged (96%). However, the proportion of providers judged outstanding has decreased by 3 percentage points since 31 August 2019 (see Figure 1).

The number of childcare places on the Early Years Register (EYR) has remained broadly stable since August 2015.

The ongoing decline in the number of childminders has slowed. This is the result of fewer childminders leaving and more joining the registers in 2019/20 compared to the previous academic year.

Figure 1: Overall effectiveness of active early years registered providers at their most recent inspection over time

^{Note: percentages are rounded and may not add to 100.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.}

Introduction

The early years and childcare sector is primarily made up of private nurseries, pre-schools and childminders. There are 4 types of early years provision:

Childcare on non-domestic premises

These are nurseries, pre-schools, holiday clubs and other group-based settings, usually registered on the EYR because they look after children aged 0 to 5.

Childminders

These are people who look after one or more children who they are not related to for payment or reward. The care takes place in a home that is not the child’s own. The majority register on the EYR because they look after children aged 0 to 5, but those who look after 5- to 7-year-olds need to register on the Childcare Register (CR).

Childcare on domestic premises

These are providers where 4 or more people look after children together in a home that is not the child’s. The majority are registered on the EYR and some are registered on the CR, depending on the age of the children they look after.

Home childcarers (nannies)

These are individuals who care for children aged 0 to 18 wholly or mainly in the child’s own home. They are not required to register with Ofsted, though they may choose to do so on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register (VCR).

Further information about provider types is available in the glossary.

Childminders have the option to either register with Ofsted or a childminder agency. Childminder agencies have the responsibility of inspecting the childminders registered with them. More information about childminder agencies is provided in the childminder agencies section of this page.

Childcare in early years also occurs in the schools sector. This takes place in state-funded schools and independent schools. For more information, see the early years provision in the schools sector section of this page. 

Providers, registers and places

Number of providers

There were 75,300 childcare providers registered with Ofsted on 31 August 2020, up by less than 1% (300) since 31 March 2020.^{[footnote 1]} Since 31 August 2015, the number of providers has fallen by 14% (12,000), which continues the decline observed over a much longer period. Most of this overall decrease is due to a substantial fall in the number of childminders.

Figure 2: Childcare providers registered with Ofsted as at 31 August 2020, by provider type

^{Note: numbers are rounded to the nearest 100.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.}

Childminders

There were 36,600 providers on 31 August 2020, down by 300 (1%) since 31 March 2020. This continues a downward trend, with 11,000 (24%) fewer providers than on 31 August 2015.

Childcare on non-domestic premises

There were 27,600 providers on 31 August 2020, the same number recorded on 31 March 2020. Numbers are fairly stable over time, with no change since 31 August 2015.

Home childcarers

There were 10,900 providers on 31 August 2020, an increase of 6% (600) since 31 March 2020. Although the number of home childcarers has fluctuated over time, there are now 5% less than there were on 31 August 2015.

Childcare on domestic premises

There were 200 providers on 31 August 2020. Numbers have remained broadly stable since 31 August 2015.

Childminder joiners and leavers over time

The decline in the number of childminders is due to a trend of more providers leaving than joining the childcare sector (see Figure 3).

The number of childminders leaving the childcare sector has slowly decreased over the past 5 academic years. The number of joiners has also decreased over time, except in the last academic year, with around 100 more childminders joining the registers compared with 2018/19. Looking at the net difference between joiners and leavers, the overall decline in the number of childminders has slowed over time, with a net decrease of 1,800 in the last academic year compared with 3,300 in 2015/16.

Figure 3: Childminder joiners and leavers by academic year

^{Note: most leavers are provider resignations and most joiners are new provider registrations, but some will be providers moving between the EYR and the CR.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.}

Since the previous official statistics (31 March 2020), 1,100 childminders have left the childcare sector and 700 joined – a net decrease of 300.^{[footnote 2]} The childminders who left during this period had been registered for over 10 years on average (based on the assumption that the exact date they left the register was 31 August 2020).

There has been minimal change in the number of childminders across the 9 regions. The North East had the highest percentage decrease with 31 (2%) fewer childminders since 31 March 2020.

Registers

On 31 August 2020, 78% (59,000) of Ofsted-registered childcare providers were on the EYR (see Figure 4). The remaining 22% were not on the EYR and so only appeared on the VCR and/or the compulsory part of the Childcare Register (CCR). More information about the different register types is available in the glossary.

Figure 4: Venn diagram of Ofsted-registered providers by the different registers for childcare

^{Note: numbers are rounded to the nearest 100.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.}

Places data is reported for the 59,000 providers registered on the EYR, with a high proportion of these (89%) also being registered on the CCR or VCR.

When considering places data, it is important to note that it covers all places for children up to the age of 8 in providers registered on the EYR. This data includes all EYR places for children under 5 and CCR places for 5- to 7-year-olds in these providers. For more methodological notes on places data, see the methodology and quality report that accompanies this release.

Places

Figure 5: Number of childcare places offered by providers on the EYR, by provider type

^{Note: places numbers of less than one million are rounded to the nearest 100.
Places numbers of more than one million are rounded to the nearest 100,000.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.}

Childcare on non-domestic premises

Providers on non-domestic premises offered 82% (1.1 million) of all childcare places, which is an increase of 3 percentage points since August 2015. On average, each provider offered 45 places.

Childminders

Childminders offered 17% (224,500) of all places, a decrease of 3 percentage points since August 2015. The average number of places offered by childminders was between 6 and 7. This average takes into account childminders with assistants, who are permitted to offer more than 6 places.

Childcare on domestic premises

Providers on domestic premises offered less than 1% (5,300) of places. On average, each provider offered 23 places.

Despite decreasing numbers of childminders, the number of childcare places has remained broadly stable since August 2015 (see Figure 6). This is due to an increase in the number of places offered by each provider over time. Since March 2020, the number of childcare places decreased by around 2,900 (less than 1%). On 31 August 2020, there were 1.3 million childcare places offered by providers on the EYR.^{[footnote 3]}

Figure 6: Childcare providers and places on the EYR over time, by provider type

^{Note: places data from August 2018 onwards is recorded in an updated administrative system and captures slightly more childcare places than previously.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.}

Inspection outcomes

Most recent inspections of providers on the EYR

Due to COVID-19, no routine inspections were carried out since March 2020 and during the period covered by this release. However, since the last release, 1,333 reports were published for inspections that took place before 31 March 2020.

As these revisions only had a minor impact on the key findings identified in the previous publication, please refer to our previous release for more information on inspection outcomes.

On 31 August 2020, 43,700 eligible providers on the EYR had received a full inspection.^{[footnote 4]} At their most recent inspection, 96% of all childcare providers on the EYR were judged either good or outstanding. This represents a substantial increase from 31 August 2015, when the proportion was 85% (see Figure 1).

Although the overall proportion of good or outstanding providers remains unchanged (96%) since 31 March 2020, the proportion of outstanding providers has decreased by 1 percentage point. This continues the trend observed since 31 August 2019, with a shift to a higher proportion of providers judged good and a lower proportion judged outstanding. This is partly due to Ofsted inspecting a higher proportion of previously outstanding providers as we near the end of an inspection cycle.

At their most recent inspection, 97% of childcare providers of non-domestic premises were judged good or outstanding, unchanged since 31 March 2020. This was made up of 22% of providers judged outstanding and 76% of providers judged good, up by 1 percentage point since the previous release.^{[footnote 2]}

The proportion of childminders who were judged good or outstanding at their most recent inspection was 96%. This was made up of 81% of providers judged good and 15% judged outstanding, unchanged since 31 March 2020.

Early years provision in the schools sector

Early years provision also occurs in the schools sector. This takes place in state-funded schools. If nurseries within schools are only looking after children aged 2 and over, they are exempt from registration on the EYR. Nurseries looking after children aged younger than 2 are still required to register on the EYR and are therefore covered in the previous sections.

In state-funded schools, other than nursery schools, early years provision is given its own judgement as part of the overall inspection of the school. For more information on school inspections and outcomes, you should refer to our official statistics on state-funded schools inspections and outcomes.

Many independent schools also provide nursery provision. For more information on non-association independent schools inspections and outcomes, see our management information on non-association independent schools.

Childminder agencies

Childminder agencies were introduced in September 2014, enabling new childminders to choose to register with Ofsted directly or register with an agency. Existing childminders could also choose to de-register with Ofsted and register instead with a childminder agency. Childminder agencies have the responsibility of inspecting the childminders who are registered with them, with Ofsted inspecting the childminder agencies.

Childminder agencies are only eligible for inspection when they have childminders on roll. There are only 2 overall effectiveness inspection outcomes: ‘effective’ and ‘ineffective’. On 31 August 2020, 11 childminder agencies were registered with Ofsted. Of these, 7 had childminders on roll and were therefore eligible for inspection. Of the 7 childminder agencies, we have inspected 4 to date and all have been judged ‘effective’.

Data for childminder agencies is available in the provider-level data file accompanying this release.

Notes

An explanation about main uses of this data, further contextual information and the arrangements for quality assurance is provided in the methodology and quality report accompanying this release.

The methodology and quality report also provides information on the strengths and limitations of the statistics.

Revisions to previous release

The provisional data in the previous release related to inspections that took place between 1 January 2020 and 31 March 2020 and were published by 30 April 2020. A revised list of inspections in this period is provided in Tables 14 to 19 of the ‘Childcare providers and inspections charts and tables’ document for this release. This revised data includes 1,333 inspections that were published by 30 September 2020 (that were not published by 30 April 2020). There was an operational decision to suspend the publication of reports in mid-March due to COVID-19. Consequently, the number of additional inspections published since the last release is higher than usual.

We publish revisions to data in this publication in line with our revisions policy for official statistics.

Education inspection framework

We carried out inspections from 1 September 2019 under the EIF. The EIF supports consistency when carrying out inspections of early years and childcare providers, maintained schools, academies, non-association independent schools, and further education and skills providers in England. We evaluate the overall quality and standards of the early years provision in line with the principles and requirements of the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework. Inspectors judge the overall effectiveness of the early years provision, taking into account 4 judgements:

• quality of education
• behaviour and attitudes
• personal development
• effectiveness of leadership and management

We are required to inspect all providers that were on the EYR on 1 August 2016 at least once by 31 July 2020. We will normally inspect providers that have registered after this date within 30 months of registration.

Common inspection framework

Between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2019, we carried out inspections under the common inspection framework. Inspectors judged the overall effectiveness of the early years provision, taking into account the following judgements:

• quality of teaching, learning and assessment
• personal development, behaviour and welfare
• effectiveness of leadership and management
• outcomes for children

Glossary

Definitions of terms are within the statistical glossary.

Further information

We publish the following information on the inspection of early years providers:

• early years and childcare statistics
• EIF
• framework for the regulation of provision on the childcare register

Contact for comments or feedback

If you have any comments or feedback on this publication, you should contact Anita Patel on 03000 130 914 or Anita.Patel@ofsted.gov.uk.

Annual Report

We will publish findings from our forthcoming Annual Report on 1 December 2020.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the following for their contribution to this statistical release: Giada Maugeri, Lucy Conway, Richard Smith, Helen Woodley, Austen Norris and Fiona Lewis.

1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. ↩

2. The figures do not add up due to rounding. ↩ ↩²

3. Places numbers of less than one million are rounded to the nearest 100. Places numbers of more than one million are rounded to the nearest 100,000. ↩

4. A small proportion of providers may have only received a no children on roll (NCOR) inspection. These are excluded from the total number of providers on the EYR that have received an inspection. We have also excluded providers that, under the EIF, are now classed as out-of-school day care providers but may have previously had a full EYR inspection. ↩