An Ofsted inspection checklist for childminders and nurseries

Most Ofsted checklists are forty items long and almost all of them are paperwork. The current inspection framework asks for two documents, and the toolkit says in terms that Ofsted does not need anything produced specially for inspection. What it does ask is that you can show practice and talk about children. This checklist is built from the toolkit, the operating guide and the inspection information for use from 1 September 2026. It is short on purpose.

The two documents you must have available

The inspection information page lists only these as documents settings must provide, accessible online or in print:

• Paediatric first aid arrangements. Who holds a current certificate, and the evidence that someone with one is on the premises and on outings whenever children are present.
• DBS records and vetting information for all staff, and for volunteers in regulated activity, including whatever summarises your checks and employment arrangements. Childminders, people working on domestic premises, and known assistants and household members are exempt, because Ofsted completed those checks at registration.

Inspectors review the DBS records as a priority on arrival, so for a group setting these should be the first thing to hand.

What inspectors may also ask to see

Beyond the two required documents, the toolkit says inspectors are "required to view specific documentation" limited to documents relating to your statutory requirements or that you produce as part of normal business. In practice that means things the EYFS already requires you to keep, which you should have anyway:

• Safeguarding policies and procedures, and written records of safeguarding decisions, referrals and incidents.
• Records of the progress check at age two for any two-year-olds in the case sample.
• Your complaints record, accident and medication records, and risk assessments where the EYFS or your own practice requires them in writing.
• Evidence of staff supervision and training where that is how you meet the leadership and safeguarding standards.

None of these need to be in a particular format. The toolkit says so: "Inspectors do not need information to be presented in any specific format, as long as it is easily accessible."

Practical things to do when the call comes

• Tell parents an inspection is happening and put up the poster the inspector brings.
• Reply to the email asking for factual details: children on roll, hours, staffing, funded children, children with SEND.
• Decide who joins the 30-minute planning call and, for group settings, whether you want a nominee.
• Tell the inspector anything that will shape the day: absences, a sleep room, a child who struggles at drop-off, a second address.
• Make sure the two required documents can be found in under a minute.

The conversations you must be able to have

This is the part of the checklist that matters, and the part no folder can do for you.

• About any child. What were they like when they started, where are they now, how do you know, what are you doing next, and what has that changed? Inspectors case-sample a representative group, always including where relevant children with an EHC plan, disabled children, children known to social care, and children receiving the early years pupil premium. Every key person should be able to answer for their children. Our guide to what Ofsted asks about observations sets this out.
• About your curriculum. What you want children to know and be able to do across the seven areas, in what order, and why. Our guide to explaining your curriculum covers how to say it in your own words.
• About safeguarding. What you would do if a child disclosed something, if you were worried about a colleague, if a parent arrived unfit to collect, and how you make a referral and to whom. Every adult, not just the lead.
• About inclusion. How you identified each child with additional needs, what support is in place, what advice you have sought, and how you have spent the early years pupil premium.
• About babies. How you implement the statutory guidance on safe sleeping, weaning and safer eating, and how you check it is followed. This was added to the toolkit in June 2026 and inspectors are instructed to look for it.
• About your own setting. Your strengths, your gaps, and what you are doing about them. That is the leadership and governance expected standard in one sentence.

Things to check in the room

• Ratios and qualifications are met in every room, all day, including lunch cover.
• Sleep checks happen and are recorded the way your policy says.
• Food is prepared and served in line with children's individual needs and allergies.
• Children have daily access to outdoor learning.
• Hygiene and personal care are handled with dignity, and children are helped to become independent.
• Mobile phone and camera rules are followed by everyone, including visitors.

Things to stop doing

• Writing a self-evaluation document for Ofsted. Know the answers; do not write the essay.
• Producing a learning journal, tracking sheet or display for the inspector. The toolkit says it creates unnecessary workload.
• Asking staff to bring paperwork to conversations with the inspector. The operating guide says inspectors do not expect it.
• Setting up special activities. The inspection information page says you are not required to.
• Tidying children's records into a presentable format. Accessible is the standard, not presentable.

Before and after school and holiday clubs

If you provide only for children who normally attend reception, inspectors evaluate safeguarding and children's welfare and wellbeing only. The documents and safeguarding conversations above still apply; the curriculum and achievement items do not.

Keeping it short for good

The reason this checklist can be short is that the EYFS already tells you what to keep, and the inspection framework asks only to see it. The settings that find inspections easy are not the ones with the thickest files; they are the ones where every record is where it should be and every practitioner knows their children. Taylormade Care is built for the first half of that: attendance, accidents, medication, risk assessments, policies, staff suitability and children's progress in one place, so when an inspector asks for something you tap rather than hunt.

Common questions

What paperwork does Ofsted need to see at an early years inspection?

Two things must be available: paediatric first aid arrangements and, for group settings, DBS and vetting records. Beyond that inspectors may view documents the EYFS already requires you to keep, in any format, as long as they are easy to find.

Do I need a self-evaluation form for Ofsted?

No. Ofsted does not require one and the toolkit says it does not need documents produced for inspection. You need to be able to describe your strengths, your areas for development and your actions.

Does Ofsted check learning journals?

No. There is no requirement to keep one and inspectors do not expect one. They evaluate what children know and can do by observing and by talking to you about specific children.

What should staff know before an inspection?

Their key children in detail, the safeguarding procedures and who to report to, the curriculum in their room and why it is sequenced as it is, and the setting's policies on phones, sleep, food and behaviour.