Top 20 Nursery Awards: Frequently asked questions

The daynurseries.co.uk Top 20 award is a mark of excellence, serving as a testament to the hard work and dedication of each individual in your organisation.

The awards highlight that your nursery or group has been one of the top-rated by parents and show potential customers that you provide the highest quality of care and support.

What are the awards?

Each year, daynurseries.co.uk gives out awards to the top 20 top-rated individual nurseries across 12 regions as well as nursery groups of varying sizes.

The award is based on individual and group review scores at the cut-off date of Monday 31st March 2025. 

What is the 2025 Awards cut-off date?

The 2025 Top 20 Nursery Awards cut-off date is Monday 31st March 2025.

We announce the winners later, approximately 2 weeks after the cut-off date. Your review score may change during this time if new reviews are published, or older reviews stop counting towards your score. 

However, the awards are based on the review score as of the published cut-off date only.

Who are the Top 20 Nursery Awards given to?

The Top 20 Nursery Awards are awarded to the 20 top-rated nurseries in each region across the UK. There is no ranking within each of the Top 20 awards.

England is divided into nine regions, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are considered their own regions.

•    London

•    East of England

•    East Midlands

•    West Midlands

•    North East England

•    North West England

•    South West England

•    South East England

•    Yorkshire & The Humber 

•    Scotland

•    Wales

•    Northern Ireland

What are the eligibility criteria for individual nursery awards?

All nurseries listed on daynurseries.co.uk are automatically entered into the awards however, award winners must meet each of the following 3 criteria: 

1.   Have a review score at the cut-off time of 11:59pm on Monday 31st March 2025 which might place them in the Top 20 in their region

2.   Have 5 published reviews between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025 

3.   Be compliant with the regulatory authority as per our specified criteria - Click here 

Please note - If a nursery receives a downgraded rating and is put into special measures within the Award year following the awards announcement, the award will be removed from the profile page. Nurseries found to be breaching our review policy prior to, or following the awards (e.g., we discover fraudulent activity), will be excluded from the awards or have their award withdrawn.

Why was I excluded from the individual day nursery awards?

When a nursery with a Top 20 review score does not meet any or some of the criteria, it will not be eligible for an award. We will only exclude or remove an award from a nursery for the following reasons: 

• They did not have 5 published reviews within the required published dates.
• They were not fully compliant with their regulatory authority at the cut-off date. 
• During our post-awards checks, we discovered a breach of our review policy prior to or following the awards (e.g. we discovered fraudulent activity/reviews not submitted in accordance with our policy, which resulted in these reviews being removed).

If we exclude one or more nurseries their review score will be disregarded, and their position in the regional Top 20 will be taken by the next compliant winner. 

Why was my award revoked?

If a nursery receives a downgraded rating and is put into special measures within the award year following the announcement, the award will be removed.  

If, at any future stage, we discover a breach of our review policy that results in the removal of reviews that contributed to an award, the award will be removed.

Who are the Top 20 Nursery Group Awards given to?

The Top 20 Day Nursery Group Awards are divided into three categories based on size. There is no ranking within each of the Top 20 awards.

•    Top 20 Large Nursery Groups (10+ group members)

•    Top 20 Mid-Size Nursery Groups (6-9 group members)

•    Top 20 Small Nursery Groups (2-5 group members)

What are the eligibility criteria for nursery group awards?

All day nursery groups listed on daynurseries.co.uk are automatically entered into the awards. Award winners must meet each of the following criteria: 

1.    Have a review score at the cut-off time of 11.59pm on Monday 31st March 2025 which might place them in the Top 20 for their group size in the UK.

The Group Review Score is derived from the average of all the Review Scores of its Members with a Review Score. 75%+ Members of the Group must have a Review Score before a Group Review Score can be achieved. (Please note that the review score can change on the website at any time up to and after the award cut-off point).

2. Have at least 75% regulatory-compliant nurseries within their group as per our specified criteria - Click here

I've bought 4 new nurseries, does that affect my group size for the awards?

If a Day Nursery Group purchase or sale is completed just before or after the published awards cut-off date and records are merged/split up, please be aware that this may affect the Group score considerably which could mean you may no longer be eligible for an award and vice versa. We are not able to advise on the potential change to the review score for any such merger.

Why was I excluded from the Day Nursery Group Awards? 

When a day nursery group with a Top 20 review score does not meet any or some of the criteria, it will not be eligible for an award. We will only exclude or remove an award from a day nursery group for the following reasons: 

• They have less than 75% regulatory-compliant nurseries in the group
• During our post-awards checks, we discovered a breach of our review policy prior to or following the awards (e.g. we discovered fraudulent activity/reviews not submitted in accordance with our policy, which resulted in these reviews being removed).

If a day nursery group are excluded their review score will be disregarded, and their position in the Top 20 will be taken by the next compliant winner

Why was my award revoked? 

If a nursery receives a downgraded rating from its Regulatory Body and is put into special measures within the award year following the awards announcement, the award will be removed from the profile page. For day nursery groups, if this puts them below the 75% requirement, the Group Award logo will be removed. 

If, at any future stage, we discover a breach of our review policy that results in the removal of reviews that contributed to a group award, the award will be removed. 

How do I enter the awards?

You do not need to enter or apply to be considered for the awards. As your nursery is listed on our website, and if you fulfil the eligibility criteria you may be in with a chance of winning a Top 20 award in your region.

Will the review cards be processed in time for the cut-off? 

We are dependent on the services of Royal Mail to deliver postal review cards to us. The time it takes from posting a review card to it appearing on our system for processing can vary between postal areas. The reviews team will process review cards received up to 5pm on the awards cut-off day. If we have not received the postal review card, it cannot be processed. We will not accept scans or photocopies of review cards. 

Will all the reviews be published in time for the cut-off? 

Only published reviews will count towards the review score. We commit to processing all reviews received up to 5pm on the awards cut-off day. 

Where a review is processed to Pending Publication, it is the responsibility of the care provider to ensure it is published via their Control Panel by 11.59pm that day. If this is not done, the review may not be published for another 7 days (as per our policy) and will not count towards the review score. 

If queries are raised by our moderators when processing reviews on the cut-off day, they will make their best attempts to contact reviewers or care providers (where appropriate) to resolve them. If they cannot reach the reviewer or care provider, they will not be able to process the review further at that stage, however, if the reviewer, or care provider, contacts us by 5pm that day and resolves the query, the review will be processed to Pending Publication. 

How do I win an award?

To win an award, your nursery’s review score must be among the top 20 in your region. It works similarly for day nursery groups, where their average review score must be among the top 20 for groups of their size. You must also meet the additional criteria: 

• Have 5 published reviews between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025
• Be compliant with the regulatory authority as per our specified criteria - Click here

How can I tell if I'm in with a chance of receiving an award?

The best way to check whether you might be up for receiving an award is to pull up a list of all the nurseries in your region using the search function on the homepage of daynurseries.co.uk, order the list by "highest review score" and then count down the list to see where you are currently appearing in the list. 

How will I find out if I've won an award? 

Before winners are announced, the Quality Assurance Team will conduct a series of checks to ensure that the potential winners meet all criteria and that published reviews have been submitted in accordance with our policy. We are not able to confirm a specific date on which winners will be announced as the duration of this process can vary, but we will aim to announce winners within 2 weeks of the cut-off date. 

Winners will be notified directly by their Account Manager by telephone and then by email. To ensure the right people in your organisation are notified, please ensure the contact details on your record are correct and up to date. 

Where was I placed on the winners' list? 

Winners are displayed in alphabetical order. We do not announce placement results within the Top 20. The current nursery review scores displayed on the website do not reflect the review scores at the time of the awards as scores can change at any time up to, and after the awards cut-off. 

Where 2 or more nurseries/day nursery groups have the exact same Top 20 review score at the end of the cut-off date, they will share that position in the Top 20. This may result in more than 20 regional winners if multiple nurseries/day nursery groups share the 20th position. 

What do I win if I make it into the Top 20 

Winners will be eligible for the following: 

• Awards winners’ logo displayed on their profile page 
• Awards winners’ logo file for use on their own website or print materials 
• Inclusion in the list of winners published on daynurseries.co.uk 
• A framed certificate 
• PR article in their local press, arranged by the daynurseries.co.uk News team