• Find an early years and childcare inspection report
• Understanding an early years and childcare inspection report
• Types of early years and childcare Ofsted inspects
• Inspecting early years and childcare
• Types of early years and childcare Ofsted regulates
• Caring for children in their own home
• Regulating early years and childcare; applying to be a provider
  • About the two early years and childcare registers
  • Registration not required for early years and childcare
  • Before registration as an early years and childcare provider
  • Registering as an early years and childcare provider
  • After registration as an early years and childcare provider
• Safeguarding children
• Children's centres
• About our survey reports
• How to complain

Before registration as an early years and childcare provider

Before you apply to be an early years and childcare provider, you should get some guidance to help you decide if you are suitable. You should also check that you can deliver the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage: go to the About the two early years and childcare registers page on the left.

Your local authority or its family information service can help you; contact details are on the Family Information Service website, your local authority website (A–Z of local authority websites) or in the telephone directory.

You can download a copy of a briefing presentation:

• Pre-registration briefing for those wishing to become childminders
• Pre-registration briefing for those wishing to become childcare providers.

If you do go on to apply, your local authority or its family information service can help you during the application process; it can also help with training, including first aid, and advice on running a small business.

You will need to consider three key things about being a provider.

• The ages of the children that you want to care for
  This will affect which registers you can apply to.
• Suitable premises
  If you are not going to use your own home, you will need to find suitable premises before you apply for registration. Your premises will need to meet legal requirements like planning, buildings, fire, environmental heath and so on.
• Staff
  You will need to think about the staff that you recruit and their suitability. This includes a manager with appropriate qualifications; the manager must also have an interview with us.

The ages of the children you choose and the premises you have will help you decide which of our registers you apply to join: the Early Years Register and/or the Childcare Register.