Updated various childcare regulations to ban dangerous dog breeds from premises, broadened harm notification requirements, and adopted the July 2026 EYFS statutory frameworks.

These Regulations amend several existing statutory instruments to update childcare registration and welfare requirements in England.

The legislation prohibits the presence of banned dog breeds at childcare premises, lowers the threshold for notifying the Chief Inspector of child abuse or harm by removing the qualifier 'serious', and adopts updated statutory frameworks for learning, development, and staff qualifications.

It applies specifically to early years childminders, group and school-based providers, later years providers, and home child-carers registered on both the Early Years and General Childcare Registers.

The Regulations amended the Early Years Foundation Stage (Welfare Requirements) Regulations 2012, the Local Authority (Duty to Secure Early Years Provision Free of Charge) Regulations 2014, the Childcare Providers (Information, Advice and Training) Regulations 2014, and the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 to align them with updated inspection outcome criteria.

These Regulations, enacted by the Secretary of State using powers under the Childcare Acts 2006 and 2016, amend four existing statutory instruments governing early years childcare in England, effective from January 1st, 2026.

The primary purpose is to update various regulations—including those concerning welfare requirements, local authorities' duty to secure free childcare, and requirements for information, advice, and training—to reflect recent changes in inspection grades implemented by Ofsted and to incorporate inspection outcomes from independent inspectorates approved under the Education and Skills Act 2008.

The changes specify which inspection grades trigger requirements for intervention, continuous improvement, or withdrawal of public funding obligations for early years providers.

The 2025 regulations amended existing childcare legislation, updating early years frameworks, assessment methods, and data collection processes, and introduced the Experience-Based Route for early years practitioners.

The Childcare (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2025 amend four existing pieces of legislation: the Local Authority Targets (Well-Being of Young Children) Regulations 2007, the Early Years Foundation Stage (Learning and Development Requirements) Order 2007, the Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) (England) Regulations 2009, and the Early Years Foundation Stage (Welfare Requirements) Regulations 2012.

Key changes include updating references to assessment scales, incorporating revised versions of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory frameworks, and introducing the Experience-Based Route (EBR) for early years practitioners.

The amendments aim to improve data collection, strengthen safeguarding, and streamline the regulatory framework for childcare in England.

The Childcare (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 amended the annual fee arrangements for certain early years providers, extending their applicability until September 1, 2027.

The Childcare (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 amend the 2008 regulations, extending the annual fees for certain early years providers registered on the early years register until September 2027.

The amendment delays any review of these fees until after that date.

The regulations were made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education.

The 2025 regulations amended the 2012 Early Years Foundation Stage (Welfare Requirements) Regulations to reflect a revised Qualifications Document related to early years provider training and qualifications.

These regulations amend the 2012 Early Years Foundation Stage (Welfare Requirements) Regulations to update the date referenced in regulation 3 to February 10, 2025.

This change is in response to a revised Qualifications Document outlining updated training and qualification requirements for early years providers.

The update facilitates the introduction of an experience-based route for early years practitioners to gain Level 3 status, impacting staff:child ratios.

The changes affect early years providers in England and Wales and are backed by the Childcare Act 2006.