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Nurseries in Bishop Auckland

There are 7 nurseries and pre-schools on the Ofsted register in Bishop Auckland.

Inspection grades in Bishop Auckland

  • Ofsted grades before November 2025: 6 settings (1 Outstanding, 5 Good)

Grades are shown only where the inspectorate has published the report.

Nurseries and pre-schools

  • Baby Acorns - Pre-school, Bishop Auckland DL14 6PX, 6 places
  • Buddies Nursery - Day nursery, Bishop Auckland DL14 7PX, ages 0 to 11, 49 places
    Ofsted, 3 May 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Daybreak Nursery - Day nursery, Bishop Auckland DL14 0HW, ages 0 to 4, 30 places
    Ofsted, 18 May 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Explorers Day Care Limited - Day nursery, Bishop Auckland DL14 0LZ, ages 0 to 4, 111 places
    Ofsted, 12 July 2022: Outstanding overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Flowerpots - Day nursery, Bishop Auckland DL14 9RE, ages 1 to 4, 38 places
    Ofsted, 20 January 2022: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Yellow Wellies - Day nursery, Bishop Auckland DL14 6HX, ages 0 to 4, 100 places
    Ofsted, 27 March 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • York House Nursery - Day nursery, Bishop Auckland DL14 7NX, ages 0 to 10, 72 places
    Ofsted, 27 August 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective

Nursery groups with settings here

Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)

Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.

The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.

Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.

Source: Ofsted reports

Ofsted grades before November 2025 (England)

Inspections before November 2025 gave one overall grade on a four-point scale: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate. Ofsted also graded the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management, and said whether safeguarding was effective.

Settings keep their last grade until Ofsted visits again, so many nurseries still show a grade from this older scale.

Source: Ofsted reports

Funded childcare hours in England

All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.

Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.

Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.

The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.

Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)

Council area

Schools in Bishop Auckland

Sources: Ofsted, registers as at 30 June 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.