For providers inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 (state schools and academies, including maintained nursery schools):
Latest inspection took place on 1 September 2024 or earlier:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – ‘requires improvement’ or below for overall effectiveness
- For all entitlements – ‘inadequate’ for overall effectiveness
Latest inspection took place between 2 September 2024 and 9 November 2025:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – judgement of less than ‘good’ in the early years provision judgement
- For all entitlements – where ‘significant improvement’ or ‘special measures’ are required
Latest inspection took place from 10 November 2025:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – ‘needs attention’ or below in leadership and governance or safeguarding is ‘not met’
- For all entitlements – ‘urgent improvement’ in leadership and governance or safeguarding is ‘not met’
For providers inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006 (early years provision registered in the early years register, such as private, voluntary and independent providers or any provision for under-2s):
Latest inspection took place on 9 November 2025 or earlier:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – ‘requires improvement’ or below for overall effectiveness
- For all entitlements – ‘inadequate’ for overall effectiveness
Latest inspection took place from 10 November 2025:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – ‘needs attention’ or below in leadership and governance or safeguarding is ‘not met’
- For all entitlements – ‘urgent improvement’ in leadership and governance or safeguarding is ‘not met’
For independent schools inspected by Ofsted (where the provision is not registered in the early years register):
Latest inspection took place on 4 January 2026 or earlier:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – ‘requires improvement’ or below for overall effectiveness
- For all entitlements – ‘inadequate’ for overall effectiveness
Latest inspection took place from 5 January 2026:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – ‘needs attention’ or below in leadership and governance or safeguarding is ‘not met’
- For all entitlements – ‘urgent improvement’ in leadership and governance or safeguarding is ‘not met’
For independent schools inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (where the provision is not registered in the early years register):
- For all entitlements regardless of the date of inspection – ‘not met’ for leadership and governance or ‘not met’ for safeguarding
For providers inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (where the provision is registered in the early years register):
Latest inspection took place on 4 January 2026 or earlier:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – ‘requires improvement’ or below for overall effectiveness
- For all entitlements – ‘inadequate’ for overall effectiveness
Latest inspection took place from 5 January 2026:
- For Early Learning for 2-year-olds – ‘needs attention’ or below in leadership and governance or safeguarding is ‘not met’
- For all entitlements – ‘urgent improvement’ in leadership and governance or safeguarding is ‘not met’