Choosing a nursery is often a parent's first big decision about their child's education, and it can feel daunting. The right setting is warm, safe and stimulating, and it suits your family's practical needs. This guide explains how nurseries work in England and what to look for when you visit.
Types of early years provision
- Day nurseries: private or voluntary settings, often open full days all year.
- Nursery classes and schools: attached to primary schools, often term-time and school hours.
- Preschools and playgroups: usually shorter sessions.
- Childminders: registered individuals who care for children in their own home, often in small groups.
Each has strengths. A larger nursery offers many children and resources. A childminder offers a smaller, home-like setting.
What the EYFS means
The EYFS covers learning and development from birth to the end of Reception. It focuses on communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development, alongside literacy, maths, understanding the world and expressive arts and design. Good settings turn this into play, conversation and exploring, not worksheets.
Checking registration and inspection
Settings in England must be registered, and are inspected. You can read inspection reports on Ofsted's website. Reports are useful, but treat them as a starting point: they show a snapshot, and the report format has been changing, so read the detail rather than just the headline.
What to look for when you visit
Go in person, ideally at a normal time, and watch:
- How staff speak to children. Are they warm, down at the children's level and genuinely engaged?
- The children. Do they look happy, busy and confident?
- The environment: safe, clean, bright, with a mix of indoor and outdoor space.
- Routines: meals, naps, outdoor play and how transitions are handled.
- Staffing: a key person assigned to your child, qualifications, staff turnover and ratios.
Questions to ask
- Who will be my child's key person, and how will they settle my child in?
- How do you keep parents informed day to day?
- What is a typical day? How much time is spent outdoors?
- How do you support communication, toilet training and behaviour?
- How do you handle allergies, illness and emergencies?
- What are your fees, what is included, and what are your notice and holiday policies?
- How do you prepare children for starting school?
Costs and funding
Fees vary widely by area and type of setting. Many families are eligible for government-funded early education and childcare hours depending on a child's age and the family's circumstances. The rules and entitlement have been changing, so check the official childcare information, or ask the nursery how it handles funded places and any extra charges.
Practical considerations
Think about location, opening hours, flexibility, waiting lists and whether the nursery links to a primary school you like. Popular nurseries can have long waiting lists, so enquire early, sometimes as soon as you are expecting.
Settling in
Good settings offer gradual settle-in sessions. Expect some tears on both sides at first. A consistent routine, a trusted key person and calm goodbyes help a lot.
What next?
When it is time for school, see how admissions criteria work and the key dates in school admissions in England. Our school and nursery placement service helps with both stages.
