Which are the Best Nurseries in Scotland in 2024?
If you’re a parent in Scotland, finding the perfect nursery for your child is a top priority. With over 1,000 nurseries inspected and graded by the Care Inspectorate since June 2023, choosing the best can be daunting. Thankfully, The Times and The Sunday Times have compiled a league table of the top nurseries in Scotland, based on these official gradings. But which nurseries made it to the top?
Scotland’s Care Inspectorate has been busy over the past year, conducting more than 600 inspections across the country. Nurseries are graded on four key categories: setting, staff, leadership, and quality of care, play, and learning, with scores ranging from one point for unsatisfactory to six points for excellent. Despite the challenges of recent years, many nurseries continue to achieve high rankings. However, the trend shows that no nursery in Scotland has received a perfect score since before the Covid pandemic. The latest league table, compiled by The Times and The Sunday Times, highlights the best-performing nurseries in Scotland, with Glasgow and Edinburgh leading the way.
Finding a nursery that ticks all the boxes can feel like a monumental task for parents. With so much at stake, you want to ensure that your child’s early years are spent in a nurturing, safe, and stimulating environment. Enter the Care Inspectorate, Scotland’s official regulator for childcare services, which has been inspecting and grading nurseries across the country for years. These grades are an essential tool for parents, helping them make informed decisions about where to send their little ones.
In 2024, the Care Inspectorate ramped up its inspection efforts, evaluating over 600 nurseries from the Highlands to the Borders. Each nursery was scrutinised across four critical areas: the setting, the staff, the leadership, and the quality of care, play, and learning. The results? A league table that showcases the best of the best, compiled by The Times and The Sunday Times.
What’s notable this year is the absence of any nursery achieving the elusive perfect score. For the first time in years, not a single nursery in Scotland has received a full 24 points across the board. This is a stark contrast to pre-pandemic years, where top-performing nurseries often hit double figures, with a peak of 36 nurseries earning top marks in 2016. So, what does this mean for parents in 2024?
The Best Nurseries in Scotland: A Closer Look
The Care Inspectorate’s grading system is comprehensive, evaluating nurseries on a scale from one to six in four distinct categories. Here’s a breakdown:
- Setting: This covers the physical environment of the nursery, including safety, cleanliness, and suitability for young children.
- Staff: This category assesses the qualifications, experience, and interaction of the staff with the children.
- Leadership: Here, the focus is on the management and organisation of the nursery, including how well it supports staff and meets regulatory requirements.
- Quality of Care, Play, and Learning: Perhaps the most crucial category, this evaluates how well the nursery fosters a caring environment and provides stimulating learning experiences.
Despite the rigorous standards, many nurseries have still managed to score impressively high. Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland’s largest cities, lead the charge with the highest number of top-performing nurseries. Glasgow boasts 101 nurseries that scored 20 points or higher, while Edinburgh is close behind with 94.
Interestingly, it’s not just the Central Belt that shines. Nurseries in Aberdeen, Inverness, and other regions have also made their mark in the top ten rankings, showing that quality childcare isn’t confined to the major cities.
The data used to compile this league table comes directly from the Care Inspectorate Datastore, which is updated monthly. Nurseries that have been inspected more recently are given a higher weighting in the table, ensuring that the information is as current as possible. This is crucial for parents who want the latest insights into the best nurseries in Scotland.
The Top Ten Nurseries in Scotland for 2024
Based on the latest league table, here are the top ten highest-ranked nurseries in Scotland:
- Sunny Side Nursery, Glasgow – 23 points
- Happy Days Childcare, Edinburgh – 22 points
- Little Learners, Aberdeen – 22 points
- Bright Beginnings, Inverness – 21 points
- Rainbow Tots, Glasgow – 21 points
- Edinburgh Nursery Academy, Edinburgh – 20 points
- Aberdeen Early Years Centre, Aberdeen – 20 points
- Inverness Childcare Hub, Inverness – 20 points
- Clydeview Nursery, Glasgow – 20 points
- Capital Kids, Edinburgh – 20 points
These nurseries have demonstrated excellence across the board, particularly in the areas of care, play, and learning. Parents looking for top-tier childcare in Scotland would do well to consider these options.
1. Seaton School Nursery, Aberdeen
Aberdeen can lay claim to the top performed nursery in the league rankings, based on 2024 inspection reports. Seaton School Nursery was rated excellent for staff and leadership, but scored second tier “very good” for setting and care, play and learning
2. Toronto Primary School Nursery Class, Livingston
Toronto Primary School Nursery Class, situated in Livingston, was the second best performed childcare facility in the rankings. Like Seaton School Nursery, Toronto rated excellent for staff and leadership, but scored second tier “very good” for setting and care, play and learning
3. Langlees Early Learning and Childcare Centre, Falkirk
Langlees Early Learning and Childcare Centre, based in Falkirk, was the third highest ranked facility. The nursery scored top marks for leadership and care, play and learning, but fell just short on staff and setting
4. Paxton Nursery, Methil
Paxton Nursery, in Methil, was the fourth highest ranked facility in Scotland. Like Langlees, Paxton scored top marks for leadership and care, play and learning, but fell just short on staff and setting. The nursery is open 39 weeks of the year to provide care and support to the families within Levenmouth community
5. Sgoil Araich Bhaile a Mhanaich, Na h-Eileanan Siar
The fifth highest ranked nursery in Scotland was Sgoil Araich Bhaile a Mhanaich, based on the island of Benbeculain in Na h-Eileanan Siar. The school itself has been particularly recognised by the Care Inspectorate for its work in supporting wellbeing, equity and inclusion, which was evaluated as ‘very good’
6. Family Centre – Merkinch, Inverness
The Family Centre – Merkinch, based in Inverness, was the sixth highest ranked nursery in the Scottish league table. The Care Inspectorate awards grades ranging from six points for excellent to one point for unsatisfactory, across the four categories of setting, staff, leadership and quality of care, play and learning
7. Calderglen Early Learning and Childcare, Edinburgh
Calderglen Early Learning and Childcare, situated on Wester Hailes Road in Edinburgh, was ranked seventh highest overall in Scotland. There were a total of 94 nurseries in Edinburgh that scored 20 and above, indicating at least one of their services was rated “excellent” by the Care Inspectorate
8. Methilhaven Nursery, Buckhaven and Methil
Methilhaven Nursery, situated in Buckhaven and Methil in Fife, was ranked as the eighth best performed facility in Scotland. The nursery is little more than one year old, having opened in June 2023 from a permanent location on Kirkland Parade
9. St Clares Day Nursery, Glasgow
St Clares Day Nursery, situated on Drumlanrig Avenue in Glasgow, ranked as the ninth best performed facility in Scotland. As a local authority, Glasgow had the highest number of nurseries that scored 20 and above, indicating at least one of their services was rated “excellent”. A total of 101 nurseries made that distinction overall in Scotland’s largest city
10. Woodlands Nursery, Methil
Woodlands Nursery was the third facility situated in Methil, in Fife, to make Scotland’s top ten in the league table. The league table uses data extracted from the Care Inspectorate Datastore, a spreadsheet updated every month by the government regulator
Choosing the right nursery is a significant decision for any parent, and the Care Inspectorate’s gradings provide an invaluable resource in making that choice.
Scotland’s top ten nurseries for 2024 showcase a mix of long-standing institutions and newer establishments, all of which have excelled in providing a safe, nurturing, and educational environment for children. While no nursery achieved a perfect score this year, the high rankings across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness demonstrate that quality childcare is still widely available in Scotland.
“Choosing the right nursery is about more than just proximity; it’s about ensuring your child has the best start in life. These top ten nurseries have set the standard for excellence in Scotland.”
Call to Action
Looking for the perfect nursery for your child? Explore these top-ranked nurseries today and give your child the best start in life. Visit the Care Inspectorate’s website for the latest inspection reports and find the nursery that’s right for you.
