Guidance

Daycare providers on the compulsory Childcare Register: Ofsted requirements

Requirements you must meet if you are an Ofsted-registered out of school club, nursery or other type of daycare on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

Applies to England

This guidance is for daycare providers on the compulsory Childcare Register. If you鈥檙e also on the Early Years Register, you need to follow the early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework. Find out more about the Ofsted registers.

Once you鈥檙e registered with Ofsted you must meet these ongoing requirements. We will check this if we carry out an inspection.

Child welfare

You must:

  • keep the children being cared for safe from harm and make sure that everyone looking after children is alert to any signs of harm
  • make sure that enough people are present at all times to ensure children鈥檚 safety and welfare 鈥 at least one person for every 30 children. At least one of these must be the provider, manager or a member of staff and at least one person must have an appropriate first aid certificate
  • make sure that anyone under the age of 17 who looks after children is always supervised by someone aged 18 or over
  • make sure that no one smokes or consumes alcohol or drugs on the premises while providing childcare or around any child being cared for, including medication that might affect their ability to look after children
  • provide or arrange any training that is necessary to ensure that everyone who looks after children has suitable skills and experience
  • make sure that children鈥檚 behaviour is managed in a suitable way
  • not use corporal punishment, and you must ensure that no-one looking after children, or living or working on the premises, uses corporal punishment on a child

Safeguarding

You must:

  • have, and follow, a written policy to safeguard children from abuse or neglect
  • provide training to everyone who looks after children on the procedures in your safeguarding policy
  • appoint a person (they can be the provider, manager or a staff member) to:
    • be responsible for children鈥檚 welfare and safety
    • provide support and guidance on child protection issues to everyone who looks after children
    • attend child protection training
    • liaise with any local safeguarding partnership and any director of children鈥檚 services if necessary
  • not let children have unsupervised contact with anyone who does not have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check with barred lists

Checking suitability

The provider, manager and everyone who looks after children must be suitable to work with children and have good enough English to ensure the children鈥檚 welfare and safety.

As the provider, you must

  • have an effective system to ensure that the suitability and English language requirements are met
  • make sure that everyone who looks after children has obtained an enhanced DBS check

Anyone aged 16 or over who lives on the premises where childcare takes place must have an enhanced鈥DBS鈥痗heck with barred lists and be suitable to be in contact with children (see鈥鈥楶eople connected with Ofsted-registered childcare鈥).听

Anyone aged 16 or over who works at a domestic premises where childcare takes place (during childcare hours) must also have an enhanced鈥DBS鈥痗heck with barred lists and be suitable to be in contact with children (see鈥鈥楶eople connected with Ofsted-registered childcare鈥).

Your premises and equipment

Your premises and equipment must be safe and suitable for childcare.

You must:

  • make sure that no child can leave the premises, and no one can enter the premises, without someone who is providing childcare becoming aware
  • have enough suitable toilet and handwashing facilities for the children you look after
  • provide access to a secure outdoor space, or if this isn鈥檛 possible, make reasonable arrangements for outdoor activities
  • do everything necessary to minimise any risks to children or staff from the premises (including entrances or exits), equipment or activities

Food and drink

You must make sure that:

  • you have a suitable place to prepare food, if you provide it
  • any food and drink provided to the children are properly prepared, wholesome and nutritious
  • the children have access to drinking water

You must display your registration certificate on the premises. If applicable, you must also display any notice of suspension there for the period of suspension.

Organising your childcare

You must make arrangements with other childcare providers or with parents for occasions when you cannot provide childcare.

You must not refuse to look after a child or treat them less well than another child because of any of the following:

  • the child鈥檚 race, home language, family background or gender
  • the religion or belief of the child or the child鈥檚 parents
  • any disability or learning difficulty that the child may have 鈥 this means that you must follow your legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 (for example, the provisions on reasonable adjustments)

You must have public liability insurance. This covers death, injury, public liability, damage or other loss.

Providers of childcare on domestic premises 鈥 working elsewhere

If you are registered to provide childcare on domestic premises, you are also permitted to work some of your time from non-domestic premises, such as a church hall or community centre. Use our guidance to apply to work from non-domestic premises. We will need to approve any non-domestic premises before you can work there.

Dealing with complaints

You must:

  • have a written complaints policy and fully investigate each complaint
  • keep written records for 3 years of any complaint, the investigation outcome and any action taken
  • respond (in writing, if requested) to the parent who made the complaint, setting out the findings of the investigation and any resulting actions 鈥 you must do this as soon as reasonably possible but within 28 days of the complaint being made
  • provide, if we ask for it, a summary of complaints for the last 12 months and any action taken, or a list of all complaints made during the last 3 years, within a reasonable timeframe that we specify

Keeping records and providing information

You must record the following for each child:

  • their name, home address and date of birth
  • their parent鈥檚 name, home address and telephone number
  • days and times when they attend the childcare

You must also record, as soon as reasonably possible:

  • any accidents that happen on the premises
  • any medicine given to a child, or that a child takes themselves, including the date, circumstances, person who gave it and the parent鈥檚 consent
  • the name, home address and telephone number of everyone living on the premises or working there during childcare hours

You should keep this information for 2 years from the date it was recorded.

Giving parents information

You must give the following information to parents whose children you look after:

Giving Ofsted information

You must tell us about any serious childcare incidents while you are looking after a child. You should do this as soon as possible but within 14 days. Find out what serious incidents you need to report and how to tell Ofsted.

You must also tell us about:

  • any changes to your full name, address, telephone number, address where you provide childcare, working hours and number of children you look after
  • any changes to the manager
  • changes to people responsible for running the childcare
  • changes to any people aged 16 or over living on the premises or working there during childcare hours (for childcare on domestic premises only)

To tell us about changes to people, please see 鈥楻eport changes to registered people in your nursery or other daycare鈥.

Add another premises

If you want to work from additional premises under your Ofsted registration, you must apply to add another setting.

If you are a childcare on domestic premises provider and wish to spend some of your time working from a non-domestic premises, you must apply to add the premises to your Ofsted registration by applying to work some of the time on non-domestic premises (EYA).

Updates to this page

Published 9 August 2022
Last updated 10 April 2025 show all updates
  1. Updated with details about how childcare on domestic premises providers can apply to work some of the time on non-domestic premises.

  2. Updated the duration for which childcare can be operated from non-domestic premises.

  3. First published.

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