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Guidance

Establishing school-based nursery provision

Non-statutory guidance for schools, responsible bodies and childcare providers looking to open or expand school-based nursery provision.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
17 October 2024
Last updated:
20 May 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated 'Establishing school-based nursery provision' to reflect recent changes in the Ofsted registration process, entitlements funding and the significant change process. Added further information to support schools on their technical builds, and a link to statutory guidance on local-authority-maintained schools.

  2. Updated the final sentence of section 'Land transactions' in 'Establishing school-based nursery provision' to clarify the criteria for Ofsted registration.

  3. Updated throughout to reflect recent changes to the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework. Added information about the 'Best start in life' policy, Ofsted requirements and broader policy developments.

  4. We have updated the guidance, 'Establishing school-based nursery provision'. This reflects the updated requirements that maintained schools must meet when making a significant change (prescribed alterations).

  5. Updated the information in 'Establishing school-based nursery provision' about prescribed alterations, reflecting the new regulations that amend the process schools need to follow to add a nursery to their provision.

  6. Updated 'Establishing school-based nursery provision' to clarify that if school-based provision is exempt from registering with Ofsted or a childminding agency, it must still comply with the compulsory requirements of the childcare register.

  7. Updated to include chapter summary for ‘high-quality learning environments’ and to clarify that schools may need the Secretary of State’s consent before a lease is granted to a private, voluntary or independent (PVI) provider or childminder.

  8. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Establishing school-based nursery provision

HTML

Annex A: leasehold heads of terms template

MS Word Document, 124 KB

Annex B: licencing heads of terms template

MS Word Document, 123 KB

Details

This guidance outlines key considerations and requirements for schools if they want to open or expand a nursery on their site.

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