In Summary:
The Ofsted Early Years Inspection Toolkit 2025 is a new guide for inspectors, replacing the current Early Years Handbook in November 2025. It provides clear guidance on seven evaluation areas, focusing on daily practice and a whole-setting approach.
This means the new framework shifts the focus of inspections from a provider’s policies to their practical, everyday operations. It also offers a detailed roadmap for what “strong” performance looks like, which nurseries can use to self-evaluate and improve their practices.
If you’re a nursery manager, you’ll already have heard about the new Early Years Inspection Toolkit for Ofsted. But with so much new information released in one go, it’s easy to become overwhelmed!
So, let’s make it simple. In this blog, we’ll explain what the Ofsted Early Years Inspection Toolkit is, what it replaces, and how it will shape nursery inspections in practice.
From November 2025, inspections will no longer lean on the bulky early years Ofsted handbook. Instead, inspectors will use the Early Years Inspection Toolkit, a new guide written specifically for nurseries and other EYFS providers.
Jump ahead to:
What is the Early Years Inspection Toolkit for Ofsted?
The Early Years Inspection Toolkit is the new operating guide inspectors will use when they inspect nurseries. For the first time, there are now operating guides for the main sectors Ofsted inspects: early years, state-funded schools, non-association independent schools, FE and skills and Initial Teacher Education (ITE).
The toolkits follow the Ofsted consultation, where it was highlighted that there are often inspectors without specialist knowledge inspecting specialist settings (like early years).
The document aims to make clear:
- Which evaluation areas inspectors must judge
- What “expected”, “strong” and “exceptional” practice looks like
- How inspectors will gather evidence (from everyday practice, not piles of extra paperwork)
What does the Ofsted Early Years Inspection Toolkit replace?
To see what the new toolkits replace, we’ll need to look at the ‘old’ system (still in place until November 2025) to compare the changes.
Here’s a brief summary of how EYFS inspections used to run, and the documents that underpinned them.
How it used to work: EIF and Early Years Inspection Handbook
The Education Inspection Framework (EIF) is a top-level framework that sets out Ofsted’s inspection principles and the ways that Ofsted inspects schools (this is the latest changes covered in our September Ofsted updates blog). The EIF applies to lots of provider types, like schools and EYFS settings.
The EIF was paired with the Early Years Handbook, which is phase-specific to early years and explains how inspectors will inspect these particular settings.
In short, the EIF provided overall principles, and the Early Years Handbook tailored the inspection to nursery settings.
What’s changed: Ofsted updates and new toolkits
The documents that were released on the 9th of September have renewed the EIF (the EIF sets out all of the changes made, like the new report cards and the toolkit use). The Renewed EIF (complete with report card introduction, etc.) will come into force from November 2025. Ofsted will then use this document instead of the older version of the EIF.
The inspection toolkits or operating guides will also come into force in November 2025. When, for nurseries, they will replace the Early Years Handbook. The toolkits for early years providers will cover many aspects that the previous handbook addressed. They have been designed to provide clarity on the grading structure, include new and important evaluation areas (such as inclusion), and offer a clearer structure to help navigate the document.
And, on that note, let’s look at how the document is set out and structured.
Navigating the Early Years Inspection Toolkit document
Each of the six evaluation areas (plus safeguarding) follows the same order in the toolkit. Once you know the pattern, it’s much easier to digest.
Each Ofsted evaluation area follows this structure:
- What the evaluation area covers (its scope and priorities).
- The factors that show strong practice.
- How it looks different depending on age groups and provision types.
- How inspectors will gather evidence.
- What the grades mean, from “needs attention” up to “exceptional”.
Breaking down the Early Years Inspection Toolkit
Safeguarding
EYFS safeguarding now has its own category and will be judged simply as “met” or “not met”. If it’s not met, ‘regulatory action’ will follow.
Inspectors want to see a whole-setting approach, not just policies tucked away in folders. It’s about creating a culture where children are always the priority, where every staff member knows their role, and where concerns are raised and dealt with openly.
Because safeguarding looks different in every nursery, context matters. That’s why Ofsted will use nursery-specific information on the new report cards to make sure judgments reflect the real risks and needs of your provision.
As this is an area always a priority for inspections, your staff may benefit from revising some of the common safeguarding questions Ofsted ask, so they feel confident to be put on the spot.
Inclusion
Inclusion has its own evaluation area for the first time, making it a big focus in inspections. Inspectors will be looking closely at how settings support children who face barriers to learning and well-being, including disadvantaged children, those with SEND, and children known to social care.
Strong, whole-setting inclusive practice means spotting needs early, acting quickly to reduce barriers, and setting high expectations for every child.
Inspectors will want to see that strategies are lived in practice, whether that’s an effective EYPP plan, a SENCo with a development plan, well-thought-out sensory development opportunities or strong partnerships with social workers and specialists.
The toolkit makes it clear that inclusion looks different across various contexts. A childminder may double as SENCo, while a large nursery might have a leadership role dedicated to it.
They will gather evidence by exploring how quickly additional needs are identified, whether parents and children are included in decisions, and whether the support provided genuinely improves outcomes.
Curriculum and teaching
The curriculum and teaching section is a substantial section of the toolkit. Inspectors will want to see that leaders have designed a high-quality, ambitious curriculum that follows the EYFS and ensures children build knowledge and skills in a step-by-step manner.
The EYFS curriculum should be carefully sequenced, with the prime areas given priority for the youngest children. Communication and language activities are threaded through everything, with inspectors looking for rich vocabulary, high-quality interactions, and a love of stories, songs, and rhymes.
Good curriculum leadership means staff know how children learn, understand progression, and adapt teaching to different rates of development. Inspectors will focus on whether activities are chosen with purpose, how practitioners present and check new information and skills to children, and how play and direct teaching are blended to make learning stick.
The expectation isn’t identical delivery in every nursery, nor should it be! It’s about showing a thought-through, evidence-based approach that allows all children to access learning.
We know that schools are encouraged to use evidence-based resources like the information shared by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). It’s always useful to be up to date with recognised approaches and pedagogies and to check that your EYFS curriculum aligns with what is deemed best practice.
Achievement
Achievement is about impact. Inspectors will look at how well children are progressing across the seven EYFS areas of learning and development and whether they’re gaining the essential skills for the next stage.
We also know there is a huge push on children being ‘school-ready’ and would expect this to be one of the common Ofsted themes for 2026, among other big hitters like inclusion and safeguarding.
Being ready for their next step into reception relies on strong foundations in communication, confidence, focus, resilience, and curiosity. The prime areas carry particular weight for younger children, while the specific areas come into play as they get older.
Leaders aren’t expected to present data spreadsheets. What matters is how effectively they spot when a child is falling behind and put the right support in place quickly.
Inspectors will check that strategies make a visible difference to children’s progress and well-being, which is why effective EYFS child development tracking should be a non-negotiable in your setting.
The achievement evaluation area is ultimately about whether children leave your setting knowing more, remembering more, and being able to do more.
Behaviour, attitudes and routines
The evaluation area of behaviour, attitudes and routines asks:
How well do children settle, engage, and take part in daily life?
Inspectors will be looking for consistent expectations from staff, clear routines that help children feel secure, and fair responses when things go wrong. Settings that have clear processes to meet the needs of their children, like adopting trauma-informed approaches, will be ahead of the curve here.
This evaluation area isn’t just about managing behaviour and demonstrating positive behaviour management strategies. It’s about creating a predictable, supportive environment where children show respect, kindness, and positive attitudes to learning.
Inspectors will pay attention to transitions, snack times, tidy-ups, and all the little moments that show whether routines are working for children. And, as with all other evaluation areas, context matters here too. What’s ‘appropriate’ for babies will look different for 2-3 year olds, and routines in a childminder setting won’t mirror those in a large nursery.
What matters is that children feel safe, supported, and ready to learn.
Children’s welfare and well-being
This evaluation area focuses on how well settings care for children’s happiness, health, and emotional security. Inspectors will want to see strong key person relationships, warm attachments, and environments where children feel they belong.
Everyday routines like hygiene, rest, healthy food, outdoor play, and safe opportunities for risk-taking will be part of what inspectors observe. They’ll also want to see how nurseries support vulnerable children so that difficulties don’t become barriers to thriving. Supporting vulnerable children, although it has always been a priority, is a focal point in many DfE publications, like the Children’s Commissioner Report 2025.
Strong practice is evident in children who are confident, healthy, and developing independence in care routines, whereas weaker provision is observed in unsettled, unhappy, or overlooked children in the grading guidance.
Leadership and governance
Leadership and governance are about the systems and vision behind your nursery. Inspectors will be asking whether leaders fully understand the EYFS requirements, set high expectations for all children, and act quickly when weaknesses are identified.
Good leadership is also about looking after staff. Inspectors will consider whether leaders avoid unnecessary workload, support professional development through training plans, and build and grow positive relationships with parents and other professional
And when it comes to governance, it isn’t just policies on paper. It’s about leaders making sure improvements happen in practice, staff feel supported, and children flourish. Strong nursery leaders not only meet requirements but also drive ongoing improvement and share good practice with others.
Final thoughts
The Early Years Inspection Toolkit for Ofsted is one of the biggest inspection changes for nurseries in years. It replaces outdated handbooks with a clear, EYFS-focused framework that intends to reflect what you actually do each day.
Managers can use the toolkit themselves as a self-evaluation tool, to guide training and support CPD plans, and to reassure teams. If daily practice is strong, you should already be ‘inspection–ready’.
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