In January 2025, the new Quality improvement framework for early learning and childcare sectors was published to give settings an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the content before it is used for inspection.
Since then, the Care Inspectorate and HM Inspectors from Education Scotland have undertaken pilot visits/inspections helping us test out how the framework works. In total, 74 pilot visits/inspections took place across 28 local authorities.
Piloting the framework was an essential part of the process, allowing both the Care Inspectorate and HM Inspectors to test it in live settings – from exploring the use of individual Quality Indicators (QIs) to gathering feedback. Thank you to every setting that supported these pilots.
A series of engagement sessions have also taken place over the past few months, both in person and online. These provided an opportunity for over 1,200 ELC, school aged childcare, and childminders to hear about the framework and ask questions. During these sessions, you told us you would like more opportunities to focus specifically on self-evaluation. In response, we held a further two in-person sessions in Perth and two online webinars in May, engaging with over 1,500 of you.
Your support and feedback during this engagement period has been crucial in refining and fine-tuning the framework. The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland’s HM Inspectors are working to incorporate your finishing reflections in the next and final version.
What happens next?
In line with previous updates, the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland’s HM Inspectors will begin using the framework in inspections from September 2025.
The table below provides an overview of how both organisations will use the framework for inspection activity, from September 2025.
|
September – October |
Care Inspectorate single inspections Education Scotland to pilot single inspections (late Sept) |
|
October – December |
Care Inspectorate single inspections Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland Shared inspections No Education Scotland single inspections |
|
January onwards |
Shared inspections Education Scotland single inspections Care Inspectorate single inspections |
To support your continued familiarisation with the new framework and help you understand what to expect from its use in inspection, this update provides further information about what you can expect from September 2025.
What is a shared inspection?
A shared inspection means that HM Inspectors and the Care Inspectorate will undertake the inspection together. For shared inspections taking place from September 2025, you will receive 2.5 weeks’ notice. This notice period will remain in place until 31 March 2026 and will then be reviewed for inspection year 2026-27.
Our shared inspections will focus on the following Quality Indicators:
- Staff skills, knowledge, values and deployment – Care Inspectorate
- Learning, teaching and assessment – Education Scotland
- Nurturing care and support – Care Inspectorate
- Children’s progress – Education Scotland
Safeguarding will also be reviewed during shared inspections.
To help reduce pre-inspection workload, we will not ask for a self-evaluation paper in advance of inspection.
You can expect the following as part of the inspection:
- pre-inspection questionnaires;
- observing learning, care and support;
- discussions with staff/children/senior leaders/parents/carers;
- reviewing documentation and evidence; and
- the Care Inspectorate will carry out assessments of core assurances and a Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) observation.
At the end of the inspection, we will provide verbal feedback and will then produce a single inspection report which will include summative grades for each of the QIs.
Will Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate continue to undertake their own inspections?
Yes, both organisations will continue to undertake their own inspections over the coming year and we refer to these as ‘single inspections’.
The 18-month gap between Education Scotland and Care Inspectorate inspections will remain in place.
From September 2025, the Care Inspectorate will use the ‘Quality improvement framework for early learning and childcare sectors’ for its single inspections.
Education Scotland will begin by piloting its methodology for single inspections from late September. Education Scotland will carry out single inspections using the framework from January 2026.
Further information about Education Scotland single inspections (pilot phase)
During their single inspections, Education Scotland will focus on the following QIs.
- Curriculum
- Learning, teaching and assessment
- Wellbeing, inclusion and equality
Education Scotland will also continue to undertake a review of safeguarding.
HM Inspectors will pilot this combination of QIs.
To reduce pre-inspection workload, you will not be asked to provide a self-evaluation paper in advance of the pilot inspections.
The notification period for these inspections will remain at 2.5 weeks, in line with Education Scotland’s current practice. However, as these are an opportunity for HM Inspectors to test methodology, they will not be graded.
There will be no significant changes made to the structure of the letter or Summary of Inspection Findings (SIF) for these pilot inspections. HM Inspectors will continue to use pre-inspection questionnaires and ask for the most recent standards and quality report, along with current improvement plan.
As part of these inspections, you can expect the following activity:
- observing learning;
- discussions with staff/children/senior leaders/parents;
- reviewing documentation and evidence;
- sharing findings; and
- a written report.
Further information about Care Inspectorate single inspections
The Care Inspectorate will continue to undertake unannounced single inspections, and issue Care Standard Questionnaires to parents/carers to gather feedback about their child/children’s experiences. We will sample records, including some examples of your self-evaluation, during the inspection.
During single inspections, the Care Inspectorate will focus on the following QIs:
- Leadership and management of staff and resources
- Play and learning (Early Learning and Childcare/Childminder)/Play, learning and development (School Age Childcare)
- Nurturing care and support
The Care Inspectorate will use the Quality improvement framework for early learning and childcare sectors alongside the Health and Social Care Standards to independently assure the quality of care, support and learning children receive.
Inspectors will also assess 'core assurances' during inspection. These core assurances are found throughout the quality framework and generally relate to practices that keep babies, children and young people safe. This could be your setting's approach to safer recruitment or infection prevention and control. If we have concerns about a particular core assurance, we might report on an additional QI.
There will be no significant changes to how we report our inspection findings to you.
What you can expect from these inspections is some of the following activities:
- Observing the quality of children’s care, support and learning.
- Conducting SOFI observations in centre-based services providing Early Learning and Childcare and School Age Childcare (note: SOFI observations are not carried out in childminding settings).
- Discussions with staff, children, senior leaders, parents, carers, and partners.
- Discussing your self-evaluation and improvement planning.
- Carrying out assessments of core assurances.
- Providing verbal feedback to conclude the inspection visit.
- We will review safeguarding as part of our core assurances.
Will there be support available to prepare for inspection using the framework?
Yes, we plan to provide support to providers and practitioners ahead of the start of inspections in September. We will provide further details of how you can engage with us in due course.
Where can I find out more information?
To support the implementation of the new framework, Education Scotland’s HM Inspectors and the Care Inspectorate are planning a series of webinars to take place at the start of the new academic term. Further information about these webinars will be shared in due course, please follow us on social media for details.
Until the use of the new framework begins in September, both organisations will continue to use their existing frameworks and approaches.
Thank you once again for your continued support in the development of the new framework.