Intervention: settings

Private, voluntary, and independent early years settings and childminders

The Early Years Intervention Team provides training, support, guidance and challenge to early years settings in line with the local authority’s statutory responsibilities in the following circumstances:

Where the Ofsted judgement for Safeguarding is Not Met.
Where the Ofsted judgement for Leadership and Governance is Needs Attention or below.
Where any other inspection area is judged as Needs Attention or below.
Where an Ofsted Welfare Requirements Notice has been issued.
Where Ofsted has suspended a setting’s registration.

An Intervention Adviser will be allocated to the setting. Depending on the Ofsted inspection grading, either a Setting Improvement Plan or an Inspection Support Plan will be developed to address the next steps and/or actions identified by Ofsted.

Early years and childcare providers that do not hold an Ofsted judgement of Expected standard or above in all areas do not automatically retain eligibility to deliver funded early education entitlements, including Nursery Education Funding, the Funded Two-Year-Old Offer, or Early Years Pupil Premium. As part of its statutory responsibilities, the local authority will assess each case individually to determine whether funding arrangements can continue. Please see the table below for more information.

Type of provision and inspectorate	Date of inspection	Specified grades for the entitlement for two-year-olds from families receiving additional support. Local authorities are not required to fund, and local authorities must include provision in provider agreements enabling the termination of funding if the provider receives these grades	Specified grades for the working parent entitlement and the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds. Local authorities are not required to fund, and local authorities must include provision in provider agreements enabling the termination of funding if the provider receives these grades
Early years provision at state schools and academies, including maintained nursery schools, inspected by Ofsted under section 5 of the Education Act 2005	Before Monday, 2 September 2024	“Inadequate” or “requires improvement” for overall effectiveness	“Inadequate” for overall effectiveness
	On or after Monday, 2 September 2024 but before Monday, 10 November 2025	Significant improvement or special measures are required within the meaning of section 13(1) Education Act 2005, or “Requires improvement” or “inadequate” for the effectiveness of the early years provision	Significant improvement or special measures are required within the meaning of section 13(1) Education Act 2005
	On or after Monday, 10 November 2025	Safeguarding standards are “not met”, or Leadership and governance is graded either “urgent improvement” or “needs attention”	Safeguarding standards are “not met”, or Leadership and governance is graded “urgent improvement”
Early years provision registered in the early years register, such as private, voluntary and independent providers, inspected by Ofsted under section 49(2) of the Childcare Act 2006	Before Monday, 10 November 2025	“Inadequate” or “requires improvement” for overall effectiveness	“Inadequate” for overall effectiveness
	On or after Monday, 10 November 2025	Safeguarding standards are “not met”, or Leadership and governance is graded either “urgent improvement” or “needs attention”	Safeguarding standards are “not met”, or Leadership and governance is graded “urgent improvement”
Independent schools inspected by Ofsted and early years provision registered in the early years register but inspected by an independent inspectorate	Before Monday, 5 January 2026	“Inadequate” or “requires improvement” for overall effectiveness	“Inadequate” for overall effectiveness
	On or after Monday, 5 January 2026	Safeguarding standards are “not met”, or Leadership and governance is graded either “urgent improvement” or “needs attention”	Safeguarding standards are “not met”, or Leadership and governance is graded “urgent improvement”
Independent schools inspected by an independent inspectorate where the early years provision is exempt from registering in the early years register	Any date	Safeguarding standards are “not met”, or Leadership and governance is graded “not met”	Safeguarding standards are “not met”, or Leadership and governance is graded “urgent improvement”

Intensive support may include bespoke training, brokered visits to other providers, progress monitoring, and coaching or mentoring within the setting. Support may be delivered at whole-setting level, targeted to individual practitioners, or focused on specific areas for development.

During the intervention period, representatives from the setting’s leadership and management team will be required to attend Early Years Rapid Improvement Group meetings. These meetings are chaired by the Senior Adviser for Intervention and Safeguarding and attended by relevant local authority professionals who support the setting. Their purpose is to review progress against Ofsted actions and recommendations, evaluate the impact of improvement activity, and identify any additional action required.

Intervention support will remain in place until the setting achieves an Ofsted judgement of Expected standard or above, or until any Ofsted compliance action has been formally closed.

A similar process will apply to childminder agencies where an Ofsted inspection results in a judgement of Needs Attention or below, or where a suspension has been imposed.

Contact

Senior Adviser: Intervention, Safeguarding, and Wraparound: Gemma.Hope@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Improvement Advisers: Susan.Sykes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Private, voluntary, and independent early years settings and childminders

Table listing the specified grades at which local authorities can withdraw or refuse entitlement funding