Ofsted record

St Mary's Church Nursery

DUNMOW, Essex · URN 203985

According to Ofsted's inspection on 13 February 2026, St Mary's Church Nursery in DUNMOW, Essex was graded on 6 areas of its report card: curriculum and teaching — Strong Standard; achievement — Strong Standard; behaviour and routines — Strong Standard; welfare and wellbeing — Expected Standard; inclusion — Strong Standard; leadership and governance — Expected Standard. Source: Little Bees Nursery Intelligence, from Ofsted's published record.

  1. Inspected 13 February 2026

    7 months ago

    Report card — six areas graded separately.

    Curriculum and teaching Strong Standard
    Achievement Strong Standard
    Behaviour and routines Strong Standard
    Welfare and wellbeing Expected Standard
    Inclusion Strong Standard
    Leadership and governance Expected Standard

    What each grade means

    Each area is judged separately. Expected standard is the bar every provider has to clear, so meeting it is the pass rather than a mediocre result.

    Curriculum and teaching Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Achievement Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Behaviour and routines Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Welfare and wellbeing Expected Standard
    The bar every provider must clear. Meeting it is the pass, not a mediocre result.
    Inclusion Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Leadership and governance Expected Standard
    The bar every provider must clear. Meeting it is the pass, not a mediocre result.
  2. Earlier inspections

  3. 9 March 2020 Good
  4. 3 November 2014 Outstanding
  5. 17 October 2011 Good
  6. 13 November 2007 Good
  7. 14 June 2004 Good

On the register

Ofsted URN
203985
Provider type
Childcare on Non-Domestic Premises, Sessional day care
Ages
2 to 4
Registered places
24
Registered since
11 November 1999
Local authority
Essex

DUNMOW, Essex · CM6 2AD. Location from the Ofsted register.

On the Early Years Register.

Common questions

When was St Mary's Church Nursery last inspected by Ofsted? +

St Mary's Church Nursery in DUNMOW, Essex was last inspected on 13 February 2026. That inspection used Ofsted's report card framework, which replaced single-word overall ratings for early years settings in November 2025.

What did Ofsted say about St Mary's Church Nursery? +

Ofsted graded 6 areas: curriculum and teaching — Strong Standard; achievement — Strong Standard; behaviour and routines — Strong Standard; welfare and wellbeing — Expected Standard; inclusion — Strong Standard; leadership and governance — Expected Standard. Each area is judged separately, so a setting can be stronger in one than another.

Is "expected standard" a good grade? +

Yes. Expected standard is the bar every provider has to clear, so meeting it is the pass rather than a mediocre result. Strong standard and exceptional sit above it; needs attention and urgent improvement sit below.

What ages does St Mary's Church Nursery take? +

St Mary's Church Nursery is registered for children aged 2 to 4.

How many children can St Mary's Church Nursery take? +

St Mary's Church Nursery is registered for up to 24 children at any one time. That is a registration limit, not the number currently attending.

How long has St Mary's Church Nursery been registered? +

St Mary's Church Nursery has been registered with Ofsted since 11 November 1999. Its unique reference number (URN) is 203985.

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Inspection and registration information is published by Ofsted and reproduced by Little Bees Nursery Intelligence under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Little Bees is not affiliated with Ofsted. The grade descriptions are our plain-English summaries of where each grade sits against the standard, not Ofsted's own criteria.

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