Children's Workforce Development Council

Information about: National standards

What are the national standards?

The national standards for under 8s day care and childminding are minimum standards used for regulatory purposes. They are also intended to improve the quality of care. There are 14 national standards for each of the categories of early years and playwork settings:

Each standard describes a particular quality outcome and is accompanied by a set of supporting criteria providing information about how to achieve the outcome.

The national standards for each category are the same but the supporting criteria change to reflect the nature of the setting.

Regulations under the Children Act 1989 require providers (technically the registered person in each setting) to meet the 14 standards and to pay close attention to the supporting criteria. The law requires Ofsted to inspect against both the standards and criteria.

In addition to the national standards, childcare providers also need to comply with other legislation such as health and safety, food hygiene, fire or planning requirements.

To find out more about the day care standards and regulations, visit the Surestart website.

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