How long does it take to register a nursery with Ofsted?

Who applies, and what you send Ofsted

If you run childcare on non-domestic premises for children under 8, for more than 2 hours a day and more than 14 days a year, you must register. Ofsted's registration policy says it's a criminal offence to provide childcare without registering, or to work from premises it hasn't approved. Non-domestic premises can be a purpose-built building, a church hall, a school, an office building or an outdoor area.

For a company or other organisation, the application is made by the nominated individual: the person who deals with the registration and oversees the management of the provision. A registration for a new nursery is a set of connected applications:

• EYO: the application to register the nursery or other group-based provision.
• EYS: a form to add a setting, one for each set of premises. GOV.UK says: "Ofsted must approve each nursery or other group-based childcare-provision premises. It is an offence to provide childcare on non-approved premises."
• EY2: an application from each person in a governance position, such as directors.

GOV.UK's EYO page is clear that your application "will not be reviewed by Ofsted until these 2 steps are also completed", meaning the EYS and EY2 forms. Then: "Once we have received all of the connected applications, we will carry out an application review." A missing director's form holds up the whole application.

Some things also have to be done before you register. The policy lists training for the designated safeguarding lead and paediatric first aid, and a manager with a qualification at level 3 or above. You also need DBS checks for the people who must have them.

What GOV.UK says about timing

Here is every timing the current GOV.UK pages give for a new nursery registration, with its source:

So the answer to "how long does it take?" is that Ofsted publishes targets for parts of the process, not a promised date for the whole of it. The briefing's 12 weeks is the only overall figure we could find on GOV.UK, and it's counted from acceptance, not from the day you start filling in forms. Ofsted gives you a proposed visit date at its initial review, and repeats it in your acknowledgement email. If your checks are done in time, an inspector contacts you to confirm the details.

Two things on your side decide whether you hit that date: every connected form and check being complete, and the building being ready.

Get the premises ready before you apply

This is the part that most often moves a nursery's opening date, and it sits outside Ofsted's process entirely. The registration policy says: "Your premises must be ready to use as soon as your registration is granted. This means any significant building work must have been completed." And: "If your premises are not ready to use, we will not be able to approve your application."

So the order is usually:

1. Find the building and check it works as a nursery, before you sign. Our checklist will this building work for a nursery? sets out the checks in the order we'd work through them.
2. Confirm the planning position. See what use class is a nursery?
3. Agree the lease, then design and carry out the works.
4. Apply to Ofsted, with the connected forms and checks lined up.
5. Open once you have the certificate.

Deferral is narrow. Ofsted says it "will only defer your registration visit in exceptional circumstances", and may agree to defer for up to 16 weeks for "unexpected delays to building work" or exceptional personal circumstances. If you don't attend the visit, Ofsted may make its decision on the limited information it holds, which "is likely to lead to your application being refused". Planned building work isn't an unexpected delay, so don't apply on the assumption that you can push the visit back.

The policy also says Ofsted "will not explicitly check whether you have approval from your landlord to work from your premises", but you're expected to comply with the relevant legal requirements. Check that the lease allows nursery use. Don't rely on the visit to catch it. If you don't have sole use of the building, you'll need to tell Ofsted which other organisations use it.

What Ofsted checks at the registration visit

Everyone applying to the Early Years Register gets a registration visit. For an organisation, the visit and interview are with the nominated individual. According to the policy, Ofsted will assess your suitability, check your documents and identity, and "carry out a full tour of the premises in which you will be looking after children inside and outside (even areas that are not being used for childcare)". It may also check any additional premises you plan to use.

For childcare on non-domestic premises, the inspector also checks:

• that you and your staff meet the training and qualification requirements, and understand the staff-to-child ratios for your register;
• "how much space you have for each child";
• how you'll organise the space to meet children's learning, development and welfare needs;
• "your premises' heating, ventilation, natural light and the general state of repair and cleanliness";
• that children have access to outdoor play, which "does not necessarily have to be on the premises", and the arrangements for it;
• "that there are enough suitable kitchen, toilet and nappy-changing facilities";
• that you'll deliver the educational programmes;
• your procedures for recruitment, DBS checks, employment history, references and other checks on staff.

Ofsted will also review your understanding of safeguarding and child protection, and of safer eating and sleeping.

Most of the premises points connect to the EYFS statutory framework for group and school-based providers, in force from 1 September 2026. Premises must be fit for purpose (paragraph 3.80). The indoor space standards are 3.5 m² per child under two, 2.5 m² for two-year-olds and 2.3 m² for three- to five-year-olds (paragraph 3.83). There should be a separate baby room for children under two (paragraph 3.87), and there must be an adequate number of toilets and hand basins and hygienic changing facilities (paragraph 3.88). The free EYFS capacity calculator on our nursery checklist page works out places room by room from your floor plan.

What Ofsted registration costs

GOV.UK's registration fees page sets the fee for childcare on non-domestic premises:

• £220 to register on the Early Years Register, £114 on the Childcare Register, or £220 for both;
• a reduced fee of £35 if you'll provide childcare for under 3 hours a day, 5 days a week or 45 weeks a year;
• the same fee again for each additional set of premises;
• the same amount every year as an annual fee, due on the anniversary of registration, for each setting.

Ofsted cancels your registration if you don't pay the annual fee. Fees aren't refunded, even if you withdraw your application or it's refused. GOV.UK also notes that the government decides on the fees and that they may change, so check the page before you apply. Other costs, such as DBS checks and training, are on top.

After the visit: the decision and the certificate

There are two outcomes: register or refuse. If the inspector has visited, Ofsted may tell you the outcome at the end of the visit. If it's a yes, Ofsted sends a certificate of registration once it has completed all the required processes. For the Early Years Register, "you cannot look after children until you have the certificate". Ofsted can also attach conditions to a registration.

If Ofsted intends to refuse, it sends a notice of intention to refuse and you can object. After that, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Care Standards). On the Early Years Register, your first inspection takes place within 18 months of your registration date.

Your local authority must provide information and advice about registration, so it's worth contacting them early.

Registering more than one setting

If you're registering several sites at once, you submit an EYS form for each, and each one is approved, and charged, as its own setting. If you already run a nursery and are adding a site, we cover that route, including when new premises may count as an expansion, in opening a second nursery.

Frequently asked questions

Planning a new nursery?

We have tested candidate buildings for nursery clients to see whether each could work as a nursery. The Nursery & School Premises Sprint checks a building before you sign, and lines the premises steps up against the Ofsted registration timeline. It isn't a registration service: registration decisions are Ofsted's. It's from £1,950 + VAT for a site of up to about 300 m².

Book a free intro call Get the free checklist → See the Nursery & School Premises Sprint →