The role of Ofsted
Ofsted carry out a series of checks on everyone who applies to register as a childcare provider. The number and type of checks they carry out depend on the position each person holds, including whether they work directly with children. The checks always include a check against police records (called a ‘Disclosure and Barring Service’ check or ‘DBS’ check).
They do not check employees of registered providers, such as the manager or other staff who work in a nursery (this is the responsibility of the provider). They do check household members of childminders and any assistants they employ. They check people when they first register with them.
Ofsted currently grade early years settings on a 4-point scale: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate. If they judge the provider as requires improvement or inadequate, they will say in the inspection report what it needs to do to improve. For schools, Ofsted no longer give overall judgements but will issue gradings related to individual aspects of a school's performance.