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Ofsted's new report cards: what's changed and what it means for your nursery

Ofsted retired its single-word grades in November 2025. Inspections now produce a colour-coded report card with several evaluation areas scored on a 5-point scale, plus a separate safeguarding judgement. Here's how to read it — and why most nurseries still show the old grade for now.

Reviewed by the Nursery Advice editorial teamLast updated 4 August 2026Next review 30 November 2026Editorial standards

For more than two decades, every Ofsted-registered nursery in England was summed up in one word: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate. From November 2025, that single word is gone. Inspections now produce a colour-coded report card that scores several evaluation areas on a 5-point scale, alongside a separate safeguarding judgement.

The change is being phased in one inspection at a time. Based on our directory of every Ofsted-registered day nursery in England, only 709 of 14,487 settings (about 4.9%) have a new-format report card so far — the rest still display their last single-word grade until they’re reinspected. This guide explains what the new card looks like, what each grade means, and how to compare a nursery on the old system against one on the new.

Old grade vs new report card at a glance

The headline shift is from one overall grade to several area-level grades, plus a stand-alone safeguarding check.

Old single-word grade vs new report card
Old system (pre-Nov 2025) New report card (Nov 2025 onwards)
Headline result One overall word: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, Inadequate No single overall word — a grade per evaluation area on a 5-point scale
Grading scale 4 grades 5 grades: Exceptional, Strong, Secure, Attention needed, Causing concern (or Urgent improvement)
Safeguarding Judged as part of the overall grade Separate binary judgement: met or not met
Format PDF narrative report Colour-coded report card + supporting narrative
Inspection cycle Roughly every 4 years Unchanged — roughly every 4 years

Why Ofsted dropped the single word

The change followed years of pressure on the single-grade system, brought to a head by the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023 and the resulting coroner’s findings. Ofsted launched its Big Listen consultation, the government dropped overall grades for state schools in September 2024, and on 3 February 2025 Ofsted opened a public consultation on a wider report-card model covering early years.

On 9 September 2025 Ofsted confirmed the new approach and published its Early years inspection toolkit. The first inspections using report cards took place from November 2025.

How many nurseries are on the new system already?

Because Ofsted is working through the country one inspection at a time, the switch is gradual. These are the live numbers from the Nursery Advice directory as of late May 2026:

Day nurseries in England by inspection format (Nursery Advice directory, May 2026)
Format on file Nurseries Share
Legacy single-word grade 13,778 95.1%
New report card 709 4.9%
Total live day nurseries 14,487 100%

That share is rising every week as Ofsted reinspects. For now, when you compare two nurseries you should expect to see both formats sitting side by side.

What does the new report card actually score?

Ofsted’s early years toolkit (published 9 September 2025) sets out the areas a registered nursery is evaluated on. Each is graded on the 5-point scale, except safeguarding which is met or not met.

  • Safeguarding — are children kept safe? Judged met or not met.
  • Inclusion — how well the setting includes every child, including those with SEND and disadvantaged children.
  • Curriculum and teaching — how the setting plans and delivers the Early Years Foundation Stage in practice.
  • Achievement — the progress children actually make, particularly in communication, language and early literacy.
  • Behaviour and attitudes — how children engage, the tone of the room and how staff support self-regulation.
  • Children’s welfare and wellbeing — daily care, nutrition, physical activity, emotional security.
  • Leadership and governance — the quality of management, staff support, and self-evaluation.

The 5-point grading scale, in plain English

Ofsted’s 5-point grades for each evaluation area
Grade What it means
Exceptional Practice that is genuinely sector-leading. Rare and harder to achieve than the old Outstanding.
Strong Clearly above what is expected. Confident, consistent, well-evidenced practice.
Secure Meets the expected standard. This is the new "good enough for any child" baseline — not a downgrade.
Attention needed Specific weaknesses to address. The setting is not failing, but inspectors will return.
Causing concern / Urgent improvement Serious or widespread weaknesses. Triggers monitoring and a clear improvement timetable.

Safeguarding is now a separate yes/no

Safeguarding sits outside the 5-point scale. Inspectors decide whether the setting’s arrangements are met or not met. A "not met" finding is serious: it triggers a monitoring visit, can lead to enforcement action, and in some cases to suspension of registration.

For parents, this is the single most important box on the card. If safeguarding is met, the other grades describe the quality of the experience. If it is not met, treat that as a stop sign until you understand what Ofsted has asked the setting to fix.

How to read a report card in two minutes

  1. Check the safeguarding judgement first. Met = continue. Not met = pause and ask the manager what is being done.
  2. Look at the colour blocks. Greens and dark greens (Strong, Exceptional) are good signs; amber (Attention needed) is a flag worth asking about; red (Causing concern / Urgent improvement) needs a serious conversation.
  3. Read the narrative under each area. The grade is the headline; the paragraph beneath tells you why. A "Secure" with confident, specific evidence beats a "Strong" with vague language.
  4. Note the inspection date. A nursery that was inspected last term tells you more than one inspected three years ago.
  5. Check what the setting has been asked to improve. Even the best report cards include things to work on. Look at how serious they are.

Comparing a nursery on the old system with one on the new

For most of 2026 you’ll be comparing a nursery with a single-word grade against one with a report card. There is no official conversion, but a rough mental map helps:

  • Old "Outstanding" → typically maps to a card with a mix of Strong and the occasional Exceptional.
  • Old "Good" → typically maps to a card with mostly Secure, possibly some Strong.
  • Old "Requires Improvement" → typically a card with one or more Attention needed areas.
  • Old "Inadequate" → typically Causing concern / Urgent improvement in at least one area, often with safeguarding not met.

These are approximations, not equivalences. The fairest comparison still comes from reading both reports and going to visit — our 10-point nursery checklist walks through what to look for on the day.

Monitoring visits and what happens next

A report card is not the end of the story. The new system places more weight on follow-up:

  • A nursery with one or more Attention needed areas can expect a monitoring visit within a defined window, focused on those areas.
  • A Causing concern or Urgent improvement outcome triggers a tighter cycle of monitoring and an action plan.
  • A safeguarding not met finding moves the setting into a formal enforcement path.
  • Standard reinspection runs roughly every 4 years, the same as before.

What this means if you’re choosing a nursery now

Three practical takeaways:

  1. Don’t over-index on a single area. The card is designed to show a profile, not a single verdict. A nursery with mostly Secure grades, a clear safeguarding "met" and a thoughtful narrative is a perfectly good choice.
  2. Read the words, not just the colours. A grade is a headline; the paragraph underneath is the story. The EYFS framework sits behind the Curriculum, Achievement and Welfare areas — understanding it makes the report much easier to interpret.
  3. If you see "Attention needed", ask about it. A confident manager will tell you exactly what was flagged and what they’ve done since. A defensive answer is itself information.

A short note for nursery owners

If you run a nursery, you can claim and edit your Nursery Advice listing so the report card sits alongside your own photos, ethos and open days. More on the For Nurseries page.

Frequently asked questions

What replaces "Outstanding" on the new report card?
There isn’t a single replacement. The top of the new 5-point scale is Exceptional, and below that Strong. An old "Outstanding" nursery is most likely to land on a card with several Strong grades and possibly the occasional Exceptional, but there’s no direct one-for-one conversion.
Is it harder to get a top grade under the new system?
Yes, by design. Exceptional is meant to be genuinely sector-leading and rarer than the old Outstanding. Secure is the new expected standard, so most settings meeting the EYFS will land there or on Strong.
What does "Safeguarding: not met" actually mean for my child’s place?
It means Ofsted has identified serious concerns about the arrangements that keep children safe. It triggers monitoring and can lead to enforcement action, including (in the worst cases) suspension of the setting’s registration. If you see "not met", contact the manager, ask what has been done since the inspection, and consider holding off on a contract until you have a clear answer.
My nursery’s last Ofsted inspection was in 2023 — is the old grade still valid?
Yes. The old single-word grade remains the official judgement until the next inspection. Roughly 95% of the day nurseries in our directory are still on the legacy format. The grade just won’t be refreshed in the old format — the next inspection will produce a new-style report card.
Will every nursery be reinspected on the new system soon?
No. Ofsted is working through the standard inspection cycle of roughly four years. Settings flagged for monitoring move faster; everyone else is reinspected in turn. Expect the share of nurseries on the new format to climb steadily through 2026 and 2027.
Where can I see the full report card?
Every report card is published on Ofsted’s own website. We link to the official Ofsted page from every nursery listing on Nursery Advice, alongside the inspection date, headline judgement, and (where available) the area-level grades.

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About this guide & sources

Every numerical claim in this guide is sourced from UK government, NHS or recognised charity publications. We re-check each source on the article’s review date.

  1. GOV.UK (Ofsted) — Ofsted confirms changes to education inspection and unveils new-look report cards (retrieved 2026-05-30)
  2. GOV.UK (Ofsted) — Understanding Ofsted report cards and grades (guidance for parents) (retrieved 2026-05-30)
  3. Ofsted — Early years inspection toolkit (PDF) (retrieved 2026-05-30)
  4. GOV.UK (Ofsted) — Ofsted sets out proposals for fairer education inspections and new, more detailed report cards (retrieved 2026-05-30)
  5. Nursery World — Ofsted reveals details of new 'report card' and inspection grades (retrieved 2026-05-30)

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