How to open a nursery in England

• Ages. Babies, toddlers, pre-school, or all three. Under-2s need more space, more staff and, where possible, a separate baby room.
• Hours. Full day care or sessional, for example mornings only. Your hours shape your fees, your staffing and your funded-hours income.
• Registers. Children from birth to the 31 August after their fifth birthday are covered by the Early Years Register. If you will also care for older children, for example after-school care up to age 8, you need the General Childcare Register too.
• Who registers. You can register as an individual, a company, a partnership, a charity or a committee. For an organisation, Ofsted also registers the people who run it, for example every director of a company set up mainly for childcare, and you appoint a nominated individual to deal with Ofsted.

Before you commit to a building, look at what is already nearby and who lives there:

• The nurseries within a few miles, how many places they are registered for, and their latest Ofsted results. Ofsted publishes this for every registered nursery.
• How many children under 5 live in the area, and whether that number is rising or falling.
• Your council's childcare sufficiency report. Councils report each year on whether there is enough childcare locally, and many say which areas or age groups are short.
• New housing nearby, and any school nurseries opening under the government's school-based nursery programme.

Registered places are not the same as empty places: a nursery registered for 60 children may be full with a waiting list. Talk to your council's early years team and, if you can, to local parents.

Since September 2020, day nurseries fall within planning use Class E(f). Whether you need planning permission depends on the building's current lawful use and the work you plan: changing between use classes generally needs permission, and so does most external building work. Speak to the local planning authority before you sign anything.

• Building regulations. Ask building control whether your conversion needs approval, and what that means for fire safety, access and toilets.
• Listed buildings. You need listed building consent before altering a listed building in a way that affects its character, inside or out. Doing the work without it is a criminal offence.
• Lease terms. Make sure the lease allows nursery use, outdoor play and the alterations you need.

Where indoor activity is the main part of your provision, which it is for most nurseries, the EYFS sets a minimum indoor space per child, measured on usable floor area only, so not corridors, kitchens, toilets or storage:

Children also need daily access to outdoor play. If the building has no outdoor area, you must plan and take children outside every day, and outdoor space can't be used to increase the number of children you take. You also need a separate baby room where possible, enough toilets and hand basins, and hygienic nappy-changing facilities.

• Insurance. Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement once you employ anyone, with cover of at least £5 million. The EYFS also requires appropriate insurance for all your premises, such as public liability insurance.
• Data protection. Most organisations that handle personal information must pay the ICO data protection fee. Check the current fee on the ICO website.
• Business rates. If the nursery is your only business property and its rateable value is less than £15,000, you may get small business rate relief (no business rates at £12,000 or less). Ask your council.
• Food. If you will serve food, register as a food business with your council at least 28 days before you open. It's free. Staff who prepare or handle food need food hygiene training, you must be able to give information on the 14 allergens for everything you serve, and food packed on site before it's ordered needs full allergen labelling.
• Fire safety. Whoever controls the premises must carry out a fire risk assessment, write it down and keep it under review. The EYFS also requires an evacuation procedure, working fire detection and equipment, clearly marked exits and fire doors that are never blocked.

What goes in a nursery business plan

Lenders and landlords will want to see you've thought it through. A good plan covers:

• Local demand and competition, and why parents will choose you.
• Registered places by age group, worked out from your floor space.
• Staffing costs from the ratios, including cover for breaks, holidays and training.
• Income from fees and from funded hours at your council's rate, remembering that funded hours can't carry compulsory charges.
• A realistic occupancy build-up: new nurseries rarely open full.
• Set-up costs: fit-out, equipment, Ofsted fees, insurance and recruitment.

Our free nursery ratio calculator and nursery fee calculator help with the staffing and fee numbers.

Your team is the biggest part of the registration visit. The EYFS requires:

• A manager with an approved Level 3 qualification or above, and ideally two years' experience in an early years setting, or other suitable experience. Managers appointed since 4 January 2024 also need a Level 2 maths qualification, or must gain one within two years. You also need a named deputy who is capable of taking charge when the manager is away.
• At least half of all other staff with an approved Level 2 qualification.
• A designated safeguarding lead, and a key person for every child.
• Paediatric first aid: at least one person with a current full certificate on site whenever children are there, and on outings.

To count in the ratios, staff who qualified at Level 2 or 3 after 30 June 2016 need paediatric first aid within 3 months of starting, and Early Years Educators need Level 2 English to count at Level 3. Nobody under 17 counts, except apprentices from 16. Students and long-term volunteers count at the level below their study only if they are suitable, competent and hold current paediatric first aid.

Everyone aged 16 or over who works directly with the children, or works on the premises where and when childcare takes place (for example a cook, cleaner or administrator), including volunteers, needs an enhanced DBS check with a barred list check. Nobody can start until it is back and you have seen it. The only exception is supervised volunteers who help occasionally, such as a parent on a trip. You need at least one written reference before recruiting, right to work checks before anyone starts, and a record of every check. Our safer recruitment checklist and single central record template are free, and the staff ratios guide covers the ratio rules in more detail.

You must not look after children until Ofsted has registered you and approved your premises. Providing childcare that should be registered without registration is a criminal offence.

• Apply online through Ofsted's Apply to register service. Each setting is added separately, and each person in a governance role applies separately. Ofsted doesn't start reviewing until all the connected applications are in.
• Fees. £220 for the Early Years Register or both registers, or £114 for the General Childcare Register only. If you will operate for less than 3 hours a day, 5 days a week or 45 weeks a year, the Early Years Register fee is reduced to £35. The same fee is due every year, each additional premises has its own approval and annual fee, and fees aren't refundable.
• Checks. Applicants need an enhanced DBS check with barred lists, a health declaration signed with their GP, references and, if they've lived abroad in the last five years, a certificate of good conduct. Get these DBS checks through Ofsted's DBS application service; people in governance roles need theirs before they can apply.
• The registration visit. Ofsted visits every Early Years Register applicant and interviews the nominated individual or the owner. Expect a full tour of the premises and questions on the EYFS, safeguarding, safe eating and sleeping, ratios, space, staff qualifications and training, and how you recruit.
• Timing. Ofsted aims to visit within eight weeks of its initial review of your application. There is no published end-to-end timescale, so leave plenty of time before your planned opening date.

Most nurseries rely on government-funded hours, paid through the council. To offer them you agree terms with your local authority. A newly registered provider can be funded until its first full inspection report is published, if it accepts the council's terms; after that, funding depends on the inspection outcome.

• Eligible working parents can get 30 hours a week (1,140 hours a year) from the term after their child turns 9 months.
• All 3 and 4-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours a week (570 hours a year) from the term after their third birthday, and so are eligible 2-year-olds.
• You can't make parents pay top-up fees, non-refundable deposits or registration fees, or general charges for funded hours. Meals, consumables and optional activities can only be charged on a voluntary basis, with itemised invoices. You must also offer reasonable alternatives, such as letting parents bring their own or waiving the cost, and publish your charges.

The rate your council pays you is not the same as the national rates the government announces, so check your council's provider rates before you set your fees.

New nurseries are usually first inspected within 18 months of registering, or within 30 months if they registered before 1 April 2026. Inspections use report cards with five grades, from exceptional to urgent improvement, and safeguarding is judged met or not met. Our report cards guide explains the grades.

The settings that do well have their records in order from the start: staff files, training, policies everyone has read, risk assessments and daily checks.

This guide summarises official guidance as at 22 October 2026. It is not legal, planning or financial advice; check current guidance on GOV.UK and with your local authority.

• Childcare on non-domestic premises: Ofsted registration policy (GOV.UK)
• Ofsted registration fees (GOV.UK)
• EYFS statutory framework for group and school-based providers (GOV.UK) - from 1 September 2026, section 3.
• Early education and childcare: statutory guidance (GOV.UK)
• Use classes (Planning Portal)
• Fire safety in the workplace (GOV.UK), employers' liability insurance (GOV.UK) and starting a food business (GOV.UK)