Early years and childcare providers judged inadequate or not complying with requirements at inspection
An explanation of what happens to those judged inadequate on the Early Years Register and those not meeting registration requirements on the Childcare Register.
Applies to England
Early Years Register
When the overall effectiveness of provision is judged to be inadequate, the inspection report will set out the steps that you must take to improve. It will give the date by which you must comply with the requirements in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (EYFS)’ that you failed to meet.
In addition, we may decide to take enforcement action against you and issue a welfare requirements notice (WRN) because you have failed to meet one or more of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the EYFS.
It will be an offence not to take the steps that we require of you in a WRN. We also have a range of other enforcement action that we can take, including cancelling your registration.
The inspector will have explained the weaknesses that have led to the judgement of inadequate. They will also have discussed with you what you need to do to improve. If the inspector determines that enforcement action is needed, they will have explained what action we can take and what this means. You will need to be able to provide evidence that you are meeting the requirements for ongoing registration the next time that we visit.
Visit to check compliance – regulatory visit or a reinspection
If we decide to take enforcement action and we allow the provision to continue to operate, we will monitor your progress in meeting the WRN.
We may also carry out a regulatory visit to check what actions you have taken. Alternatively, we may decide to proceed straight to the reinspection. This will depend on the date the actions are due to be completed and the seriousness of the actions covered in the WRN.
We will re-inspect you within 6 months of the inspection at which you were judged inadequate. This will happen regardless of whether we carry out a separate regulatory visit following a WRN.
If we decide to check compliance through a regulatory visit, we will ask you to tell us what you have done to put things right. We will check that the improvements you have made are compliant with the WRN. If we agree that the action you have taken is sufficient, the next step will be another inspection within 6 months of the original inspection date. You can read more about this in our early years enforcement policy.
At the regulatory visit, the inspector will make a judgement about whether you have met the actions set out in the WRN. Failure to meet a WRN is an offence according to Regulation 12 of The Early Years Foundation Stage (Welfare Requirements) Regulations 2012. This may lead to the cancellation of your registration. If we find that you have addressed the actions set out in the WRN but are breaching other requirements, we may take further enforcement action. Following the compliance visit, we will publish a summary of the outcome on our website alongside your inspection reports. This is so parents and others can see the progress that you have made.
The next inspection
The next inspection will take place within 6 months following the inadequate judgement.
Where you can go for help to improve your practice
We will tell your local authority about your inspection judgement shortly before it is published on our reports website. This is so they can provide additional support or training to help you make the necessary improvement. We advise you to contact your local authority adviser/development worker if your provision is judged to be inadequate.
Claiming government funding for 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds during this period
You remain eligible to claim funding until your local authority removes you from its directory of providers offering free early education places. Your local authority will advise you if they are likely to do this and on the next steps if they do so.
The statutory guidance for local authorities on the provision of early education and childcare sets out the quality standards to meet for local authorities to fund places. It is the government’s intention that, as far as possible, free places are delivered by providers who have achieved an overall rating of ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ in their most recent Ofsted inspection report.
Childcare Register
If you are not meeting the requirements of either the compulsory or the voluntary part of the Childcare Register, or both parts, we may:
- issue you with a notice that sets out what the steps you must take are and by what date you should complete these – these relate to any of the requirements of the Childcare Register that you failed to meet
- decide to take enforcement action against you, including prosecuting you or cancelling your registration
What to tell parents
You should keep parents fully informed at all stages. However, judgements should be treated as restricted and confidential until the final report stage. Once you receive the final inspection report, you must provide a copy to all parents of children who attend the setting.
More information from Ofsted
The law that sets out our duty is the Childcare Act 2006 and associated regulations. You can read about our guidance and policy on inspecting registered early years and childcare providers under the education inspection framework.
There is also more information available on Ofsted’s website.
Other sources of information
You can contact your local authority, which has a duty to give you help and support, by visiting the find your local council website.
Updates to this page
Last updated 27 June 2023 + show all updates
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Updated to clarify existing guidance on when we share the early years inadequate inspection judgements with local authorities.
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First published.