Opening a new day nursery
Considerations when opening a new day nursery.
Ofsted registration
A day nursery needs to be registered with Ofsted. Guidance and application forms are available on the Ofsted website.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
You should look at and consider carefully the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which sets the standards for learning, development and care for children age birth to five, which need to be met in order to achieve Ofsted registration.
Useful guidance relating to EYFS requirements can be found in our early years toolkit.
Market assessment
You should carefully consider whether there is a need for the services you are proposing, including what gap in provision you would be filling and how you would differentiate yourself from competitors. Alongside this carefully consider your location.
Use these resources to help you with this.
- Oxfordshire's childcare sufficiency assessment.
- Oxfordshire’s Family Information Directory, which gives information of other providers in the area you are considering.
- School Pupil Place Plan, which provides information on plans for school expansion and an overview of housing developments in Oxfordshire.
Finding premises
Council owned land and premises records property owned by Oxfordshire County Council and includes links to Oxfordshire’s district councils’ records of commercial property.
Planning permission
Contact the relevant district to discuss any planning permission that may be required for the use of premises as a nursery
- Cherwell District Council
- Oxford City Council
- South Oxfordshire District Council
- Vale of White Horse District Council
- West Oxfordshire District Council
Finance
You should consider how the project will be financed, particularly obtaining the premises and any costs involved in converting them to suitable nursery space.
In addition it is usual for nurseries to need cash in the first year, in order to pay running costs whilst the numbers of children attending are built up.
Business plan
You should consider whether or not the nursery is likely to be a viable business proposition by creating a business and financial plan. A financial planning tool and business support is available to help you with this.
The National Day Nursery Association (NDNA) Early Years Business Zone is a free online toolkit to help nursery businesses (registration required).
The nursery should be eligible to receive Early Education Funding for eligible children aged 2, 3 and 4
National Day Nursery Association (NDNA)
You may also find the National Day Nursery Association a helpful point of information and advice.
About the Early Years team
The Early Years Team in Oxfordshire is a small, dedicated team who support settings and schools across the county by providing information, advice and training. You can read the Early Years Guarantee. Once you have had your Ofsted registration approved the Early Years team will send you a new nursery support pack.