Existing childcare providers

The Registers - an introduction

There are two Registers, administered by Ofsted, on which you may need to be registered. Some childcare providers (more info) will need to be on both.

The Early Years Register is for the compulsory registration of certain childcare provided for young children from birth up to the 31 August following their fifth birthday. Unless they are exempt, these providers must offer care and appropriate early learning to meet the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). EYFS is the new framework setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth up to the 31 August following their fifth birthday (ie. the end of the academic year in which a child has their fifth birthday.)

The General Childcare Register has two parts:

  1. The compulsory part is for providers of childcare for children from 1 September following their fifth birthday (after the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage) up to the age of eight where at least one child attends for a total of more than two hours in one day.
  2. The voluntary part is for childcare that is exempt from compulsory registration, for example for providers of childcare for children aged 8 and over, or care that takes place in the child's home. Also, for purely activity-based providers such as football or music and drama providing they meet the caveats of the exemption from compulsory registration criteria, which can be for children up to the age of 18. Childcare or activity providers that meet its requirements can choose to apply to be registered on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register.
Providers who do not need to register

If you are: a relative of a child you are looking after; a foster carer; a school directly providing childcare and activities for children aged three to 18 one of whom is a registered pupil of the school; a children's home; a care home; a hospital in which a child is a patient; a residential family centre; or a young offender institution, you will not need to be registered. You can find out more details of childcare provision that is not required to register by clicking on the following link to an Ofsted factsheet.

What next?

Click on one of the links below to find out which register you need to be on. You will be taken through a series of statements; click the option which best applies to the childcare you provide. The results page will suggest on which register you need to be registered, if any.

When you reach the questionnaire page listing options for the type of childcare which best describes the service you provide, you will be able to choose one option only. If you are registered with, or plan to be registered with, Ofsted for more than one type of provision, you can go through the questionnaires more than once to enable you to obtain results for various provision types.