Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to ensure that the majority of Ofsted inspections of early years settings are unannounced.

While Ofsted typically provides notice before an inspection, they can and do conduct inspections without prior notification, particularly when concerns have been raised about a setting or if a previous inspection resulted in a grade of ‘Inadequate’. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, there were 1400 unannounced inspections (16%) in early years settings. We recognise the importance unannounced inspections and they will continue. However, routine announced inspections are also an important part of the system. We are committed to reforming and improving the current inspection system, including making inspection more supportive.

We are increasing inspection frequency to ensure better oversight of the setting landscape, and more regular inspections will be most effective when accompanied by improvements to inspection quality.