Register as a childminder without domestic premises
Application guidance for childminders who provide care solely from somewhere other than a home.
Applies to England
A ‘childminder without domestic premises’ is a childminder who works solely from somewhere other than a home, like a community or village hall. Childminders without domestic premises cannot work from their or anyone else’s home at any time under this type of registration.
Read this guidance if you are applying to register as a childminder without domestic premises. If you want to provide childcare in your own home or someone else’s home, read our Become a childminder or nanny guidance.
Introduction
Ofsted is responsible for checking that people applying to register as childcare providers are suitable and ready to care for children.
If you want to be a childminder who only provides childcare from non-domestic premises, you must register as a childminder without domestic premises unless you meet the requirements of an exemption.
Working from non-domestic premises means you will provide childcare from somewhere that is not your home or someone else’s home.
It is a criminal offence to operate a childcare provision without registration where required, or to work from premises that have not been approved by Ofsted.
Joining an Ofsted register
Unless you are relying on an exemption, you must register with Ofsted or a childminder agency if all of the following apply:
- you want to look after children under the age of 8
- you are not related to all the children you look after (some children can be relatives)
- you want to look after children for more than 2 hours a day
- you get paid to look after children (including payment in kind)
- you want to provide childcare on non-domestic premises, like a community or village hall
There are 2 different Ofsted registers:
- the Early Years Register: for childcare providers looking after children from birth to 5 years old (up to and including the 31 August after the child’s 5th birthday)
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the Childcare Register, which is split into two parts:
- the compulsory part – for childcare providers caring for children from 5 to 8 years old (from the 1 September following the child’s 5th birthday)
- the voluntary part – for childcare providers caring for children over 8 years old or relying on an exemption from registration and choosing to register
Which registers you need to join depends on the ages of the children you want to care for or whether your provision is exempt from registration. You can tell us which registers you need to join when you apply.
Once registered you will need to comply with the requirements for registration in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework and/or the Childcare Register requirements, depending on which register(s) you join.
If you’ve already registered with Ofsted to provide childcare from your home as a childminder, you can also apply to provide some childcare from non-domestic premises. However, you must continue to provide at least some of your childcare from the domestic premises attached to your registration as a childminder. In this scenario, you will not be registered as a childminder without domestic premises. If you want to change to only working from non-domestic premises, you will need to register again as a childminder without domestic premises.
Where you can provide childcare
If you register as a childminder without domestic premises, you can provide childcare from suitable and approved non-domestic premises, such as:
- a church hall
- a school
- an office building
- an outdoor area
Under the childminder without domestic premises registration, you will not be able to provide childcare from anywhere that is used wholly or mainly as a private residence.
Ofsted will need to know if you have sole use of the premises. If you don’t have sole use of the premises, you will need to provide details of other organisations who use the premises.
We will aim to visit the non-domestic premises you will be operating from within 9 weeks of accepting your registration application. We will check that the premises are safe, suitable and meet the requirements of the register you are applying for before approving them.
Your premises must be ready to use as soon as your registration is granted.
How to describe your premises
If you apply to join the Early Years Register, you need to meet the premises requirements in the EYFS. Ofsted needs to know about:
- security: are the premises secure so children cannot leave on their own and unauthorised people cannot enter?
- space: is there enough room for the number of children and the activities you plan to run?
- facilities: do you have the facilities to care for children of the ages you will be looking after and the activities you plan to run?
- hygiene: what toilet and handwashing facilities are available and how will you maintain general cleanliness?
- health and safety: how do you meet fire safety legislation? What equipment do you have on-site (for example extinguishers and fire alarms) and what is your evacuation procedure?
- first aid: what first aid equipment is available and what will you do in the case of an emergency?
If you’re applying to join the Childcare Register (compulsory or voluntary parts), you will need to meet the childcare register premises requirements. As part of your application you will be required to provide details of why your premises are safe and suitable to provide childcare.
Operating from multiple premises
If you want to provide childcare from more than one non-domestic premise, you must say so in your registration application. You will need to provide full details for all the premises you want to operate from. All premises must be approved by Ofsted.
Once you’re registered, you can apply for approval to add more non-domestic premises to your registration by submitting an EYA form for each additional premise.
Training requirements for the different Ofsted registers
To be registered on the Early Years Register:
- you must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the EYFS, including how to implement the framework. As part of your registration, you must also demonstrate that you have the appropriate skills and knowledge to provide childcare, and a clear understanding of your role and responsibilities in providing it
- you must attend a child protection training course that helps you identify, understand and appropriately respond to signs of possible abuse and neglect at the earliest opportunity
- make sure you have a current first aid certificate. For people caring for young children and babies, this must be a paediatric first aid certificate (PFA) and must be renewed every 3 years
To join the Childcare Register (compulsory part):
- attend child protection training and complete a relevant childminding course to help you meet the requirements
- make sure at least one person looking after children has an appropriate first aid qualification. This must be renewed every 3 years
To join the Childcare Register (voluntary part):
- make sure at least one person looking after children has a current PFA certificate. This must be renewed every 3 years and be relevant for people caring for young children and babies
- at least one person looking after children must have either a minimum level 2 qualification in an area of work relevant to the childcare provided or training in the common core skills
If you’re applying to join the Early Years Register, an inspector will visit to check that you meet the registration requirements.
If you’re applying to join one or both of the Childcare Registers, then an inspector may carry out a visit to check that you meet the requirements.
Who you must tell Ofsted about
You need to tell Ofsted about anyone who will be providing childcare with you on your premises in your registration application. We will carry out suitability checks to make sure they are suitable to care for children.
Once you’re registered, you must tell us about any new people providing childcare as part of your registration using the Report new adults form.
You do not need to tell us about:
- people working on your premises who are not providing childcare (such as cooks or cleaners)
- anyone else providing childcare that is not part of your registration
- visitors or anyone working temporarily on the premises (for example, builders)
Unsupervised contact with children
You must not allow anyone who has not had their suitability checked by Ofsted to have unsupervised contact with children.
Working with others
You can work alone or with up to 3 other people to provide childcare on your non-domestic premises. This includes:
- childminders (registered with Ofsted or an agency)
- childminding assistants
- apprentices
- students
- volunteers
Childminder assistants
You can only leave childminder assistants alone with children for up to 2 hours per child (with parental permission). Assistants cannot work unsupervised until they have received their suitability letter from Ofsted.
Current or previous registrations with Ofsted
You will have to provide details of current or previous registrations with Ofsted. This includes:
- other applications in progress
- registrations and applications that have been withdrawn, refused or cancelled
You will need your registration number from any previous registrations. This is referred to as your unique reference number (URN).
You should also tell us about current or previous registrations with a childminder agency or other regulatory body.
Unique reference numbers (URNs)
Registrations made before 2018
Your URN will start with EY and include 6 digits, for example, EY123456.
Registrations made after 2018
Your URN will include 7 digits, for example, 1234567. You can find the number in any correspondence about the relevant registration.
DBS checks you will need
You and everyone providing childcare on the non-domestic premises will need to have an enhanced DBS check with children’s barred lists. Your DBS application must:
- be for ‘childcare workforce’
- include all current and previous legal names you have been known by
- include a full 5-year address history
You can apply for DBS checks through the Ofsted DBS application service.
Using an existing DBS check
You can use an existing DBS check if it meets all the above requirements and you’re signed up to the DBS update service.
If you’re not signed up to the update service, we can only accept your DBS check if both apply:
- you obtained the DBS check through the Ofsted DBS application service
- it is dated within 3 months of the date on your application
Registration costs
You must pay an annual fee for each register. You will need to pay this when you apply to register as a childminder without domestic premises.
The costs are:
- Early Years and Childcare Register (both parts) £35
- Childcare Register (compulsory part) £103
- Childcare Register (voluntary part) £103
Additional costs that are not part of the registration
Before you apply, you will also need to pay for any training and certificates you need, and any professional costs such as insurance.
Each enhanced DBS check you need costs £38. You can also pay £13 per person to join the DBS update service, which we strongly recommend.
How to register
Before you start your application, you need to have the following information ready:
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details of the childcare you will provide including:
- the address of each premise you intend to use
- the number of children you will look after
- what times of day you will care for children
- details of anyone else providing childcare, including their DBS certificate numbers
- details of 2 referees – one should be your current or most recent employer. If you’ve been employed or volunteered in childcare in the last 5 years, you should include your most recent childcare employer
- your employment history
- details of current or past Ofsted registrations or registrations with other regulatory bodies that you’ve held
- your address history for the last 5 years
- credit or debit card details to pay the registration fees
If you work with assistants or other childminders, you may need to ask them for information before you can complete this application.
In some cases, we might carry out additional checks or contact you or other government agencies to inform our suitability decision.
You will also need the following documents before you start your application:
- a valid DBS certificate, including the DBS certificate number. We cannot accept digital or scanned copies of DBS certificates
- a health declaration form completed by a GP. You can email us a photo or scanned copy with your name and unique reference number once you’ve submitted your application
- a certificate of good conduct from an embassy if you’ve lived abroad in the past 5 years. You can email this to us after you’ve submitted your application form
Register as a childminder without domestic premises
If you don’t already have an account, you will need to create one. If you don’t have all the information ready, you can save the form and come back to it later.
After you send us your application
It usually takes up to 12 weeks to process your application. Ofsted will send you updates every 2 weeks by email.
We may not be able to respond to requests for updates, so it’s best to wait for us to contact you. You should only contact us if you need to make a change to your application or to send us any information we have requested.
We will call you to talk about your application. Read the Childcare: application review guidance to find out more.
Changing your application
You must contact Ofsted straight away if there are changes to any of the details in your application. You must contact us from the email address that you have applied with.
If you want to change your application before we have granted your registration, you must tell us about changes to:
- your name or address
- the proposed premises
- people linked to your application