As of 3 September, nursery units attached to schools receive notice of an Ofsted inspection the afternoon before, rather than the 48 hours' warning they previously received. However, the plans, previously set out by Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw in January, would have meant that schools would have received no warning, bringing them in line with PVI settings.
The Alliance has welcomed the introduction of short-notice inspections for schools, but says the playing field for early years and childcare inspections remains uneven between the maintained and private and voluntary sectors.
Having long campaigned for all private, voluntary and maintained early years and childcare settings to be on an equal footing, the Alliance claims that its members fail to understand why there remains a reluctance to apply the same notice criteria across the board.
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