Ofsted Readiness Support and Guidance

The Early Years Ofsted Framework: Guidance and Support for Ofsted Readiness

The Early Education Compliance Auditing Software (EECAS) is to support early years providers to review, evaluate, reflect and monitor your everyday practice to ensure that the quality of provision is maintained. The software is designed to support and contribute to the self-evaluation process and a culture of continuous improvement. Underpinning all self-evaluation is the consideration of “what is it like for each child at this setting”. As part of the Video Conference call following the initial Notification call and email, the Inspector will request the Leaders’ evaluation of the early years provider’s strengths and their priorities for improvement. There is evidence, including that from the Thomas Coram Institute, to suggest that early years providers which are looking for continuous improvement provide higher-quality services and achieve better outcomes for each child attending. By providing children in your care with high-quality early years provision, they are well placed to achieve better outcomes in school and beyond, and develop better social, emotional and cognitive abilities necessary for lifelong learning. Therefore, EECAS is a great platform for early years providers to identify the strengths and areas for improvement relating to the Ofsted inspection process and standards, aligned with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Guidance.

Section 1: The Seven Inspection Areas

Summary of the focus areas that will be inspected.

• Curriculum and Teaching-Curriculum delivery and design linked to the seven areas of learning within the EYFS, maintaining high-quality teaching set out in the Early Years Inspection toolkit on page 16, and promoting an inclusive practice for all children to access the learning environment. There is also an emphasis on Communication and Language, which is one of the seven areas of learning and underpins the other areas and is crucial for later success. The importance of preparing children for their next stage of learning, and the content and progression in the areas of learning are set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which is secure and challenging for children. Utilising additional funding, is paramount, such as the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP), is paramount to measure the impact on disadvantaged children's outcomes.
• Achievement- Demonstrate an understanding of providing age-and stage-appropriate activities enabling them to progress to the next stage of learning so that they can know more, remember more and can do more, coupled with demonstrating a positive attitude to learning. Children are achieving through the prime areas of learning, which underpin all later learning, and are succeeding and not at a disadvantage, to which some children require more targeted time. Children are supported to make the best possible start and their progress is made across the seven areas of learning from their starting points.
• Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines-Effective Key person arrangements are in place where positive relationships are established. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning, to which high expectations are evident in children’s behaviour and attitudes and in establishing effective routines which children know and understand. Help children to regulate their behaviour, promoted by explicit teaching on emotional awareness and positive relationships. Ensuring that attendance records are maintained, monitored, and evaluated, including during periods of absence. Promoting an inclusive environment, ensuring that ALL children have access to the learning environment, making reasonable adjustments and adaptations when considering children's needs and preventing them from facing barriers.
• Children’s welfare and wellbeing- Positive relationships can be observed between children, practitioners and parents/carers; emotional/physical well-being and care/hygiene practices are promoted. The Key person understands their role. Children are taught and aware of hygiene practices and remain safe and healthy. Baby routines are regarded in relation to sleeping, weaning, and feeding. There are arrangements in place for managing allergies, food tolerance, dietary requirements and choking risks. Inclusive practice is promoted.
• Safeguarding-Ensuring that the early years provider is promoting a safeguarding culture, such as safer recruitment, dealing with safeguarding concerns/allegations, staff training, and the safeguarding policy/procedures are clear and accessible. Responds to additional safeguarding issues, the vulnerabilities of some children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities(SEND) and non-verbal children. Clear evidence of child protection arrangements in place. Safeguarding concerns can be communicated, and awareness of the whistleblowing procedures. Also recognising when children are missing. Safeguarding is Met or Not Met.

• Inclusion-Ensuring that the early years provider identifies and supports children with SEND/additional needs, and those who are ‘disadvantaged and known or previously known to children’s social care, if applicable. Setting high expectations for ALL children, working closely with parents/carers and other specialist professionals and being able to accurately assess children’s needs, working closely with the SENCo for children to receive SEN support and those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan
• Leadership and Governance-Demonstrating good partnership with parents/carers where they can extend their children’s learning at home. The early years provider demonstrates community engagement, promotes continuing professional development (CPD) for all staff, considers staff wellbeing, maintains high-quality provision, uses a practical approach to improvement, shows knowledge and understanding of their statutory duties as highlighted in the EYFS, and has a clear vision for the early years provider. Leaders obtain further external support to enhance and inform their practice, gaining an understanding of the quality and impact of the early years provider. Systems are in place to ensure that staff are protected from bullying and harassment

Section 2: The Three Core Principles

As part of the Inspection, the Inspector will consider how the early years provider considers the need to consider the three core principles outlined below. The principles underpin practice to show that children are:-

Principle 1

• Thriving-children benefit from the right systems, processes, and levels of oversight, so that they are kept safe and are able to flourish, whatever their background or individual needs.
• Achieving-children develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to secure the best start in life.
• Experiencing a sense of belonging- children feel safe, welcomed, and valued.

Principle 2

• Leadership, inclusion and whether there is an open and positive safeguarding culture.

Principle 3

• The ‘expected standard’ in the evaluation areas in the toolkit is the starting point for planning your inspection activities. Review the EY Inspection Toolkit to understand the expected standards and share them with the staff team

Section 3: Key Documents to prepare for the Inspection

Inspection Documents

• Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework(EYFS) 2026
• Early Years Inspection Toolkit 2026
• Early Years Inspection Operating Guide for Inspectors, Nov 2025(Updated April 2026)
• Early Years Inspection Information Nov 2025(Updated April 2026)

Statutory Guidance

• Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework(EYFS) 2026
• Early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance 2025
• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026
• Prevent Duty Guidance 2025
• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026
• Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 0-25 2015
• Early Years Qualification Requirements and Standards 2025

Section 4: The Inspection Process

Before

• There will be an initial call at 10.00 am, and an email will be sent after the call requesting factual details about the early years provider, such as operating times, staff numbers, and qualifications. Ask about children with SEND and additional funding (e.g., EYPP), the age range and number of children, the leaders/managers in the early years provider, and whether a nominee will be required to work closely with the Inspector throughout the Inspection. To confirm that the nominee is suitably placed to support the Inspection activities.
• Ask to speak to a manager, confirm the manager’s details, check if there is a conflict of interest or concerns, and explain the type and length of the inspection.
• Parents/carers must be notified, including displaying the notice of inspection poster
• Scheduling the 30-minute planning call, which is a video planning call, for the Inspector to understand the context of the early years provider and leaders’ priorities for improvement. Staff Wellbeing and Inclusion. The planning call information can be located in the Early YearsInspection Operating Guide for Inspections. 2026
• Identify if any reasonable adjustments are required and what arrangements can be made.

The Video Conference Call is in 3 parts

• Introduction and practicalities- Considering the Leaders’ well-being and confirming reasonable adjustments and adaptations as discussed during the notification call. Ensuring that Leaders have what they need, such as practical information, informing parents/carers, requesting a photograph of the inspector to prepare children, understanding the inspection process, and clarifying any concerns/issues before the inspection.
• Understanding the early years provider's context- considering what leaders want all children to know and achieve, leaders' evaluation of the early years provider, their strengths and successes, and priority areas of improvement, identifying disadvantaged children, those with SEND, and those known or previously known to Social Care and those facing other barriers, leaders' recent and/or ongoing challenges and priorities, safeguarding issues, if relevant, and any changes since the last inspection.

In addition, the leaders' approach to Inclusion, how the early years provider supports children with SEND and the disadvantaged, working with external specialists and professionals, the impact of the support provided, identifying and addressing children’s needs, and ensuring continuity of care and information sharing.

• Planning the timetable- The inspector will gather evidence on what leaders have achieved and their strengths, priority areas of improvement and effective plans in place. The timetable includes checking on paediatric first aid arrangements, meeting the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo), arranging to meet with parents/carers, gathering evidence about EYPP funding and how this is used and the rationale, reviewing the Disclosure and Barring Service(DBS) records and other safer recruitment procedures. Case sampling to identify disadvantaged children in receipt of EYPP who have SEND, are looked after, are known or previously known to social care, and face other barriers.

Discuss the Nominee and, if one is required, the write-up time during the inspection day, ongoing reflective discussions with leaders, and who would attend these. These will provide an opportunity to review evidence related to the toolkit evaluation areas covered, as well as additional evidence to share with the inspector. Through focused leadership discussion and shared observation, the inspector will discuss which evaluation will be explored, enabling leaders to plan and organise these activities.

Structure of the Inspection

Initial activities by the Inspector

• reviewing DBS records as a priority
• discussing the arrangements for recruitment and paediatric first aid
• meeting the practitioner designated to take lead responsibility for safeguarding
• carrying out inspection activities, focusing on children’s experiences and the extent to which leaders’ actions are effective in supporting children to achieve, belong and thrive
• checking that statutory guidance for safe sleeping arrangements, weaning and safer eating is well understood and implemented effectively

Follow-up activities should include

• focused leadership discussions
• shared observations
• case sampling
• any other appropriate follow-up inspection activities discussed with leaders, including your areas of inspection focus

During the Inspection – Core requirements

Initial Inspection Activities

Leaders will be expected to accompany the Inspector when gathering first-hand evidence of children’s experiences at the early years provider. This will provide an opportunity for leaders to showcase their early years provision, discuss the context in which they work, and reflect on the impact on practice. Examples of initial inspection activities are:-

• Shared observation of children and leaders
• Talking to children
• The experience of children identified for case sampling

Additional Inspection Activities

Midway through the inspection day, meet with the Inspector to reflect on the evidence gathered so far and to check for emerging evidence, referring to the Toolkit evaluation to determine whether the expected standards have been met and whether the emerging evidence aligns with the self-evaluation.

Additional inspection activities include

• A discussion with leaders on a particular area/focus on what it is like for the children at the early years provider
• Further shared observations
• Meetings with staff
• Further informal or planned discussions with children
• Further activities relating to case sampling, the key person and parents/carers.

There will be a reflective discussion that examines the well-being of leaders and staff, the effectiveness of any reasonable adjustments/adaptations, and whether changes are needed.

Observing Children at the Early Years Provider

Case Sampling – this will include

• Children who have specific needs or face particular barriers to learning, of different ages, including babies
• SEND children or those known or previously known to children’s social care
• Knowing the children’s starting points and identifying the support they received and the progress they have made
• Disadvantaged children in receipt of EYPP

The evidence gathered will refer to

• The progress check for children aged 2
• Key person’s knowledge of their key child/ren, their starting points, knowing what they should learn and ensuring their individual needs are met
• The quality of support for children with SEND
• The impact of additional funding for eligible children on their development, including EYPP
• Whether children who are disadvantaged and those with SEND are receiving their full entitlement, and the impact of the additional funding received for eligible children
• Parents/carers who are part of the case sample, helping to identify how the early years provider supports them, ensuring their children receive the full entitlement to early education
• Leaders' ability to support staff and are trained to be able to accurately identify children with SEND/additional needs and know how to help them
• How well children are learning in readiness for the next stage of development, including starting school

Safeguarding in Practice

The Inspector will connect all evidence gathered during the Safeguarding inspection to evaluate its effectiveness in promoting a safeguarding culture and embedding it in day-to-day practice.

The Inspector will

• Meet with the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
• Check Safer recruitment
• Review Safeguarding policies/processes, their implementation in practice, and how they keep them up to date and under review
• Look for staff safeguarding training and their practice, and the impact of this on children
• Consider the views from parents/carers, staff and children
• Review the processes to safeguard against concerns or allegations about leaders or other adults, and the steps to be taken
• Consider the early years provider’s referral system and its work with relevant professional agencies

Section 5: Documents to be viewed

• Paediatric first-aid arrangements
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) records and any other documents summarising the checks on, and the vetting and employment arrangements of, all staff working at the early years provider.

During the inspection, the inspector may need to see policies required by the EYFS and other relevant information, which should be accessible either online or printed, such as:-

• referrals made to the local authority designated officer for safeguarding, and their resolution
• details of all children who are an open case to social care/children’s services and for whom there is a multi-agency plan
• children present at the early years provider during the inspection (if not shown on the register)
• records of accidents
• records where children have been refused a place
• logs of incidents of discrimination, including racist incidents
• records of any complaints and their resolution

Section 6: The Feedback Process – in three parts

Reflective Discussion

• With leaders/nominee, if applicable, on the emerging evidence acquired throughout the day, which will provide the final grading, which is provisional at this stage.
• The three key principles are applied when evaluating first-hand evidence.
• The Inspection Toolkit will be used to evaluate each area, starting with the expected standard and considering the strengths and areas that need to be worked on. There is an opportunity for the early years provider to provide any further evidence if a particular area is graded as ‘needs attention’

Grading Discussion

• Once all the evidence has been collected, the leaders/nominee, if applicable, can be invited for the grading discussion, reflecting on the evidence and advising them on the provisional grade.
• The inspector will check on leaders/staff wellbeing and will be given the opportunity to raise any concerns or issues, reflect on how effective any adjustments or adaptations were, and consider any additional evidence collected following the reflective discussion and how this builds on the evidence gathered earlier.
• The provisional grade for each area evaluation in each order: Safeguarding, Inclusion, Achievement, Behaviour, Attitude, and Establishing Routines, Children's Welfare and Wellbeing, and Leadership and Governance. If required, identify priorities for improvement

Final Feedback

• Key findings and the provisional grade provided, supporting this with the Inspection Toolkit. The rationale for each provisional grade and the key evidence supporting this, using the language from the toolkit
• Celebrate the key strengths, validating the successes and the early years provider’s achievements.
• Will highlight priorities for improvement, including safeguarding. And, if relevant, what the early years provider needs to improve
• The early years provider must inform the local authority where any areas have not reached the expected standards and/or if safeguarding is graded ‘not met’

Other factors to consider

• Inspection findings should not be shared with parents/carers or made public, but can be shared with colleagues, family members and/or their wider support group. And that the draft report card must not be published and should wait for the final report card
• When the draft report card has been received, check for factual accuracy
• The early years provider can raise any concerns/Issues or seek clarification about the inspection. Can make a formal complaint through the complaint procedure.

Section 7: The Role of the Nominee (as highlighted in the Early Years Inspection Information 2026)

• Attend the planning call alongside the leader
• Brief the early years provider’s staff about the inspection arrangements
• Provide information for the inspectors to support planning
• Provide insight into the early years provider’s context
• Liaise with the inspector and make sure that documents and other information are available and accessible
• Keep other leaders up to date on the progress of the inspection
• Join the inspector for the inspection activities
• Act as a link between the inspector and the early years provider’s leaders, if the early years provider wants to raise any issues/concerns
• Coordinate feedback management, in particular at the end of the inspection
• Suggest to the inspector where additional evidence could be gathered
• Attend the reflection and the final grading meetings