England - OFSTED
(Ofsted)
In November 2025, Ofsted introduced a new grading system for school and nursery inspections in England.
If a nursery is being considered for one of our awards and has been inspected under the new grading system, it must:
- Be rated as meeting the ‘expected standard’ or above, and
- Have met all safeguarding requirements.
If a nursery has been inspected under the previous grading system, the existing eligibility criteria will continue to apply, as outlined below:
- The nursery must be rated Overall Good or Overall Outstanding.
- Nurseries rated Requires Improvement or Inadequate will not be eligible.
In addition, complaint and enforcement actions from the previous 12 months will be reviewed. Any nursery that has received enforcement action during this period will be excluded.
Newly registered nurseries that have not yet been inspected will remain eligible for an award.
Scotland - CI
If a nursery is being considered for one of our awards it must:
- Be rated Adequate, Good or Very Good in each of the most recent Key Framework questions.
- Nurseries rated Weak or Inadequate in any of the Key Framework questions will not be eligible.
In addition, if a Complaint Action is upheld within the previous 12 months a nursery will be excluded.
Newly registered nurseries that have not yet been inspected will be eligible for an award.
Wales - CIW
There are no specific ratings for nursery inspections in Wales.
We will read their latest report to ensure overall compliance.
Where an inspection reveals an area of Non-Compliance that receives a Non-Compliance Notice the nursery will be excluded.
Newly registered nurseries not yet inspected will be eligible for an award.
Northern Ireland
(Health and Social Care Trusts (HSC))
Health and Social Care Trusts inspect all nurseries and publish inspection reports.
Nurseries will be eligible for an award as long as they are registered with Health and Social Care Trusts.