How are nurseries inspected in Scotland?   

How are Scottish nurseries inspected? Everything you need to know about Scotland early years inspections, including who carries out nursery inspections in Scotland and how are Scotland’s childcare inspections conducted.

Who inspects nurseries in Scotland?

• The Care Inspectorate must conduct inspections of all Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) and school-aged childcare settings registered with them. It inspects day nurseries, playgroups, out-of-school clubs, childcare agencies, and childminders. 
• Education Scotland consults with the Care Inspectorate to determine which early years settings to inspect. The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland can carry out joint inspections in the early years and school sectors. Alternatively, an early years setting could be inspected by either Education Scotland or Care Inspectorate and will not receive another inspection from either organisation within the next 18 months.
• Local authorities carry out their own quality assurance and are responsible for assessing and monitoring compliance with the National Standard for all funded ELC providers. As a result, some local authorities undertake their own quality assurance visits to early years settings.

What is the role of the Care inspectorate in childcare settings?

The Care Inspectorate regulates and inspects childcare services to make sure they meet the right standards. It also works with childcare providers to improve their service and ensure all children receive safe, high-quality care.

How often are nurseries inspected in Scotland?

If you’re wondering how often a nursery should have an inspection, you should know that if a nursery has been inspected by the Care Inspectorate or Education Scotland, it will not receive another inspection from either organisation within the next 18 months.

However, inspections may be conducted during this period in response to risk.

How are Scotland’s childcare inspections conducted?

Early years settings are inspected to keep children safe, ensure they are cared for, able to thrive and receive high-quality learning and development opportunities.

Inspectors will observe children playing and staff.

They will ask early years staff, parents and children questions. This may include questions about what children understand, how children are kept safe, what parents think of the early years service, what staff think of management, leadership and even ask about staff their knowledge.

Early years settings are inspected in line with each organisation’s quality inspection framework.

This being Education Scotland’s  ‘How good is our early learning and childcare?’ and Care Inspectorate’s ‘Quality Framework for Day Care of Children, Childminding and School-Aged Childcare Services.

The Care Inspectorate’s framework asks:

How good is:

• care, play and learning?
• the setting?
• leadership?
• staff team?

Education Scotland’s framework assesses early years settings based on:

• How good is leadership and approach to improvement? i.e. the quality indicators are: Self-evaluation for self-improvement, Leadership of learning, Leadership of change, Leadership of management and practitioners, Management of resources to promote equity.
• How good is the quality of the care and learning offered? i.e. the quality indicators are: Safeguarding and child protection, Curriculum, Learning, teaching and assessment, Personalised support, Family learning, Transitions, Partnerships.
• How good at ensuring the best possible outcomes for all children? i.e. the quality indicators are: Ensuring well-being, equality and inclusion, securing children’s progress, Developing creativity and skills for life and learning.

Nursery inspections Scotland: How are Scottish nurseries rated?

Level 6 -Excellent. (Outstanding or sector leading).

Level 5 – Very Good. (Major strengths).

Level 4 – Good. (Important strengths with some areas for improvement).  

Level 3 – Satisfactory/ Adequate. (Strengths just outweigh weaknesses).

Level 2 – Weak. Significant weaknesses identified outweigh strengths. (Priority action required). 

Level 1 – Unsatisfactory (Major weaknesses and urgent remedial action required).

What happens if a nursery is not good enough?

If inspectors find that an early years service isn’t good enough, the Care Inspectorate takes action.

What powers does the Care Inspectorate have?

The Care Inspectorate can make recommendations for improvement and issue requirements for change and check these have happened.

If an early years service doesn’t improve, it can carry out enforcement action including closing the early years service down.

Where can I find a Scottish nursery inspection report?

The Care Inspectorate website has a list of all inspection reports published in the last 4 weeks.