Ofsted childminder inspections: what inspectors ask and how to answer

A childminder inspection is around three hours, with one inspector, in your home, while you look after children. There is no nominee, no DBS review and usually no staff to deflect to. The inspector watches you work and asks you questions, and your answers are most of the evidence. This guide explains how the inspection is adapted for childminders under the operating guide and toolkit for use from 1 September 2026, the questions you can expect in each evaluation area, and how to answer them in a way that shows your practice.

How your inspection differs from a nursery's

The toolkit and operating guide both say that for childminders, references to leaders mean you, and references to practitioners mean you and any assistants. In practice:

• Notice. The inspector calls up to five working days before, and must speak to you directly, to confirm when you are working and have children present. Our guide to how much notice Ofsted gives covers the rules.
• Length. Around three hours on site, between 8am and 5pm.
• No DBS review. Ofsted checked you, your assistants and your household at registration, so inspectors do not look at DBS checks on the day. They will still ask about your paediatric first aid certificate.
• No nominee. You liaise with the inspector directly throughout.
• Parents by phone. The inspector may telephone parents to hear their views rather than catching them at the door.
• Flexibility. Both documents tell inspectors to be sensitive to the context of someone working alone and to work flexibly so that you can keep meeting children's needs. Breaking off to change a nappy or settle a child is expected, not marked down.
• Co-childminders are normally inspected together. If you only provide before and after school or holiday care for children who normally attend reception, only safeguarding and children's welfare and wellbeing are evaluated.

The seven evaluation areas and the five-point scale are the same as for any other provider. Our guide to the report card explains them.

Questions about individual children

The inspector will pick a small, representative sample of your children and ask about them. Where you have them, the sample will include a child with SEND, a child known to children's social care, and a child receiving the early years pupil premium. For two-year-olds, the progress check will come up.

The questions are consistent: what was this child like when they started, where are they now, how do you know, what are you doing about it, and what has that changed? Answer with the child in front of you. "When Ava started in March she had about ten words and cried at every drop-off. She now uses three-word phrases and tells her mum 'bye, see you after lunch'. I've been narrating everything and giving her choices at snack. Her progress check in June picked out talking as the area to watch and her health visitor review agreed. Next I'm working on turn-taking in conversation."

That answer covers the achievement, curriculum, inclusion and partnership standards in four sentences, without a folder. Our guide to what Ofsted asks about observations covers this conversation in depth, and the progress check at age two covers the document the inspector will ask to see.

Questions about your curriculum

The curriculum and teaching expected standard requires that across all seven areas it is clear what you want children to know and be able to do and in what order. Inspectors will ask how you decide what to teach, how you sequence it, and how you check it is working. You do not need a document; you need a clear account. Our guide to explaining your curriculum to Ofsted is written for exactly this.

Expect specific follow-ups about mathematics, because the June 2026 toolkit added a prompt on teaching it explicitly, and about vocabulary, which the toolkit clarified means English vocabulary. "I teach number through the day: counting the stairs, sharing out the fruit, matching cups to children. This month I'm working on 'more' and 'fewer' with the two-year-olds" is the kind of answer that lands.

Questions about safeguarding

Every childminder is their own designated safeguarding lead, so the safeguarding conversation is with you. Expect scenario questions: what would you do if a child arrived with an unexplained injury, if a child said something that worried you, if a parent arrived unfit to collect, if you had a concern about your own assistant or a member of your household, if you were worried a family was being drawn towards extremism. The inspector wants to hear the steps, the names and the numbers: your local referral route, the LADO for allegations against adults, the DBS, the police in an emergency, and what you would write down.

They will also ask how you keep up to date, when you last reviewed your policy against the current EYFS and local procedures, and how parents know who to go to. Our guide to safeguarding met and not met sets out the full standard. Small gaps that have no impact on children and can be fixed before the inspector leaves can be fixed on the day.

Questions about welfare and babies

If you care for babies or under-twos, be ready to explain your safe sleeping arrangements, how you check sleeping children and how often, how you manage weaning and safer eating, and how you handle allergies. The toolkit added a specific standard on this in June 2026 and inspectors are told to look for it. They will also ask about daily outdoor access, hygiene and nappy changing, healthy food, and how you teach children about healthy choices including screen time.

Questions about inclusion

Even with a handful of children, inclusion is a separate grade. The inspector will ask how you would recognise emerging needs, who you would talk to in your local area, how you have worked with a health visitor or area SENCo, how you support a child with English as an additional language, and how you have used any early years pupil premium. If you have never had a child with additional needs, say what you would do and who you would call.

Questions about you as a leader

The leadership and governance standard asks whether you understand your setting's strengths and areas for development and act on them. Expect: what are you most proud of, what are you working on, what training have you done this year and what did it change, how do you get feedback from parents, and how do you manage your own workload. Honest, specific answers beat polished ones. "I know my maths provision was thinner than my language work, so I did a course in the spring and I've changed how I use the snack table" is a leadership answer.

How to answer well

• Lead with a child, not a policy. Inspectors want impact.
• Say how you know. A specific moment is evidence; an adjective is not.
• Say what you did next. Every answer should end in an action.
• Narrate while they watch. If you are doing something deliberate, say so.
• If you do not know, say so and say what you would do to find out. Openness is itself a safeguarding standard.
• Use the midday reflective conversation to steer the inspector to anything they have not seen.

Records do still matter, in the sense that the inspector may ask to see your progress checks, accident and medication records, risk assessments and policies, and the EYFS requires you to keep them. What matters is that they are accurate, dated and findable in seconds while you have a child on your hip. Taylormade Care for childminders keeps all of them on your phone in one place, which is the difference between "here it is" and "let me find the folder".

Common questions

How long is an Ofsted inspection for a childminder?

Around three hours on site, arranged between 8am and 5pm, with one inspector.

Does Ofsted check a childminder's DBS on inspection?

No. Ofsted completed suitability checks on you, your assistants and your household at registration, so inspectors do not review DBS checks on the day. They do ask about paediatric first aid.

Will Ofsted speak to my parents?

Usually yes, often by telephone rather than in person. The inspector will ask you for contact details and speak to parents without you present.

Do I need a self-evaluation or a curriculum document?

No. You need to be able to explain your strengths, your areas for development, and what you want children to learn and in what order. Writing it down for yourself can help you say it clearly, but Ofsted does not require the document.