To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of children’s centres’ nurseries were deemed (a) excellent, (b) good, (c) satisfactory and (d) inadequate by Ofsted in each year since Ofsted was established. (252068)

These are matters for Ofsted. The Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and copies of her replies have been placed in the Libraries.

Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 9 February 2009:

Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.

As you will be aware, Ofsted was established in 1992, but the first children’s centres were only designated from June 2003, with many developing from Sure Start Local Programmes and Early Excellence Centres. The services offered by Children’s Centres varies but may include integrated early education and childcare. This means that a Children’s Centre may include a provision registered by Ofsted (day care and childcare on non-domestic premises) or a maintained school which will be inspected by Ofsted. However, we do not identify if childcare providers or schools are part of a Children’s Centre on our databases.

The figures below should be treated with some care. To produce these we have cross-referenced the postcodes of Sure Start Children’s Centres, according to the DCSF Sure Start database (which is updated by local authorities), with those of the childcare providers and nursery schools on our records. This matching is unlikely to be fully accurate. A Sure Start Children’s Centre may have the same post code as a childcare setting while not being the same establishment.

The following tables A and B show the number and proportion of registered childcare providers with a postcode match to a Sure Start Children’s Centre receiving each overall quality grade following an Ofsted inspection from 1 April 2003 to 31 August 2008. Table C shows the number and proportion of registered childcare providers with a postcode match to a Sure Start Children’s Centre receiving each overall quality grade following an Ofsted inspection from 1 September 2008 (when the early years foundation stage was introduced) to 31 December 2008, which are the latest data available on childcare inspections. Between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2005, the early years inspection framework was based on the Children Act 1989, and used a three-point scale, ranging from good to unsatisfactory. Between 1 April 2005 and 31 August 2008, the inspection framework (commonly known as the Inspecting Outcomes for Children framework) used a four-point scale, ranging from outstanding to inadequate. The early years foundation stage inspection framework, introduced on 1 September 2008, uses a similar four-point scale.

The following tables D and E show the number and proportion of nursery schools receiving each overall effectiveness grade following an Ofsted inspection from 1 September 2003 to the 31 August 2008, which are the latest data available on school inspection outcomes. Under the previous school inspection framework (commonly known as Section 10), this judgment was made using a seven point scale: excellent, very good, good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, poor and very poor. Since September 2005, the judgment has been made under the current school inspection framework (commonly known as Section 5) using a four point scale: outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate.

It is not possible to operate a simple read-across approach between frameworks, so simple comparisons are not possible. Inspectors do not make reference to, or comparisons with, different inspection frameworks. Ofsted’s criteria for making inspection judgments about childcare and schools are clearly set out in our inspection guidance.

Please note that that the selection of provision for inspection each year is not random. We select providers for inspection each year based on a number of factors, including the period since their last inspection and the grade awarded them at that inspection. Therefore, these figures should not be used to make judgments about the standards of national provision.

A copy of this reply has been sent to right hon. Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, and to right hon. Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.