How we present the Care Inspectors nursery grades

For over 15 years, we have presented nursery data in the Nursery Guide Magazine, Edinburgh and the Lothians, including a summary of the latest Care Inspectorate grades.

We always caution parents to look beyond the numbers when reading the grades. We recommend:

1. Go to the Care Inspectorate website to read the full report, rather than just a single number. Inspectors conduct unexpected visits and assess various aspects of a nursery, some of which may not be as important then other factors to you. The report is detailed and includes parent feedback, so it's worth reading.

   
   

2. Crucially, when we combine the scores to create an overall grade, we sometimes have to refer to reports from previous years, as certain aspects haven't been inspected for many years. We always show the dates of each inspection. Bear in mind that a lot can change in a year, let alone four or five years (which is often the inspection interval). Many nurseries have grades listed from as far back as 2015, 2016, and 2017.

The Four Areas Inspected by the Care Inspectorate

The Care Inspectorate in Scotland assesses four main areas of performance, assigning each a grade on a six-point scale (6 being the best). The dates and grades awarded by the Inspectorate are shown in the ‘Ratings’ column of the Nursery Guide Magazine, Edinburgh and the Lothians, magazine.

Note that the Inspectorate introduced a new quality framework on 1 June 2022, resulting in slight changes to the key questions.

Prior to June 2022 the 4 areas inspected (graded 0 -6 ) were :

1. Care & Support

2. Environment

3. Staffing

4. Management & Leadership

After June 2022 the 4 areas inspected (graded 0 -6 ) were :

1. How good is our care, play and learning?

2. How good is our setting?

3. How good is our leadership?

4. How good is our staff team?

Grade Meanings:

6 = Excellent (outstanding or sector leading)

5 = Very Good (major strengths)

4 = Good (important strengths with areas for improvement)

3 = Adequate (strengths just outweigh weaknesses)

2 = Weak (important weaknesses)

1 = Unsatisfactory (major weaknesses)

How The Nursery Guide Uses These Grades

The Nursery Guide condenses the Inspectorate’s four grades into an overall score as follows:

21–24 = Excellent

17–20 = Very Good

13–16 = Good

9–12 = Adequate

5–8 = Weak

0–4 = Unsatisfactory

Example:

Arbor Green Nursery

1. How good is our care, play and learning? 5

2. How good is our setting? 5

3. How good is our leadership? 5

4. How good is our staff team? 5

= Very Good

5, 5, 5, 5 = 20

(May 2024)

Grades are displayed in the last column within the magazines listings of over 100 private nurseries (two page sample below).

2025 Nursery Guide Magazine - Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Also before you visit a nursery, take a look at our NURSERY CHECKLIST  to select a few questions to ask a nursery during your visit.