Q3 2026 edition · updated 6 September 2026
State of UK Childcare
A quarterly snapshot of the UK early-years sector — provider numbers, inspection grades, regional differences and costs — computed from the official register and anonymous parent-reported fees. Free to cite with attribution.
Key findings
- The UK has 66,476 registered early-years providers: 39,783 nurseries and pre-schools, and 26,693 childminders.
- 100% of rated providers hold a Good or Outstanding grade; 12.5% are Outstanding.
- Quality varies by region: Not Recorded leads with 66.7% of providers rated Outstanding, against 6.9% in East Midlands.
Grade distribution
4,441
Outstanding
30,908
Good
0
Requires improvement
112
Inadequate
31,015
unrated
Cite or reuse this report
Suggested citation: “NurseryMatch, State of UK Childcare, Q3 2026 — www.nurserymatch.com/statistics/state-of-uk-childcare”. The underlying dataset (every region and local authority) is downloadable and free to reuse with attribution.
Methodology
Ofsted Early Years register (Open Government Licence v3.0); fees are anonymous parent reports on NurseryMatch.
Fee averages are published only for segments with at least 5 providers that each have 3+ parent fee reports; sample sizes are shown alongside every figure.
Funded place counts are provider-supplied and incomplete — treat as minimums.