Changes to the early years inspection process were announced by Ofsted's Nick Hudson in his blog for Nursery World

Liz Bayram, PACEY's Chief Executive said:

"Whilst the decision to bring inspections for 'requires improvement' nurseries in-house is welcome in theory, we would question why the same rule has not been applied for other settings, such as childminders. This announcement highlights a lack of consistency in assessing and driving quality improvement across early years settings as a whole. We would like to see Ofsted reintroduce in-house inspections for all early years providers so that there is a consistent approach to improving standards in the sector.

We are extremely concerned that Ofsted has decided to extend the post-registration inspection timeframe to 30 months after a setting has opened. A provider's first inspection must be carried out sooner rather than later in order for any problems to be addressed quickly. Waiting two and a half years until a first inspection is carried out is far too long."