An Aberdeen nursery has been named as the best performing in the country.
Seaton School Nursery, which is run by Aberdeen City Council, received a “glowing” inspection report earlier this year and gained the number one spot on the Scottish childcare league table.
The results were published by The Sunday Times this weekend, based on data from the Care Inspectorate.
Inspectors have visited and graded more than 1,000 nurseries since 2023.
The Seaton nursery, which has space for up to 40 children, received “excellent” scores for staff and leadership and “very good” gradings for its setting and care, play and learning.
The nursery is the only one in the Aberdeen region to make the top 10 and only one of two services in Scotland to receive 22 out of a possible 24 points from inspectors.
Following an inspection in February, the regulator said the “very skilled, knowledgeable and highly motivated staff ensured excellent outcomes for the children.”
Their report also praised the nursery for celebrating diversity and supporting whole families.
Aberdeen nursery tops league table
The top of the league table has remained the same as last year with Sgoil Araich Bhaile a Mhanaich on Benbecula and Merkinch Family Centre in Inverness also included.
More than 600 inspections have taken place in 2024 so far, but no nurseries have been awarded full marks by the Care Inspectorate.
Concerns have been raised that this means there has been an overall decline in the quality of childcare across the country.
Before the Covid pandemic, the number of top performing nurseries reached double figures every year – peaking at 36 in 2016.
The last nurseries to receive full marks, including Poppies Pre-School in Laurencekirk, were inspected at the beginning of 2023.
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.
The Press and Journal data team is monitoring the performance of childcare services, including nurseries, day cares and childminders.
Use our Care Calibre to see how individual services have been graded by the Care Inspectorate.
Conversation