Ofsted calls for stronger oversight of early years multiple providers

A new research reports by Ofsted finds that current legislation does not reflect the level of influence that early years multiple providers have on individual nurseries.

Early years multiple providers are Ofsted-registered providers that own 2 or more childcare settings, such as nurseries and pre-schools. Social care groups are providers that own more than one children’s home.

These providers exert a great deal of influence over their settings, but Ofsted is currently only able to inspect individual nurseries, pre-schools and children’s homes. These reports call for stronger regulatory powers to make sure multiple providers and groups are having a positive impact on children.

Ofsted’s early years research looks at how multiple providers influence the education and care given at their nurseries. Researchers found that this happens in several ways, including through setting the curriculum intent and influencing its implementation and impact; and through developing, reviewing and controlling policies.

It also happens through regular visits to nurseries to monitor and inspect practice and the implementation of policies; monitoring and oversight of ongoing incidents in individual nurseries; and deploying staff between nurseries to observe perceived good practice.

The report recommends that Ofsted’s oversight of multiple providers should evolve in a similar way to that of multi-academy trusts (MATs) in the schools sector, where summary evaluations look at the extent to which a MAT is delivering high-quality education and improving outcomes for pupils.