EYFS ratios
explained

Last checked: 25 October 2026 England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different rules.

Want the answer for your rooms? Try the ratio calculator.

The numbers

For 1:13, the government expects the teacher (or equivalent) to be working with the children for the vast majority of the time. If they need to step away for short periods, the provider has to make sure quality and safety are kept up.

Whole provision, not room by room

The framework says the ratios apply to the total number of staff available to work directly with children across the whole provision, not just each room. You can move staff around to match the day, for example fewer at nap time and more at lunch. But children must usually be within sight and hearing of staff, and always within sight or hearing. They must be adequately supervised, especially while eating, and you need to be able to explain your staffing to parents and inspectors.

Mixed age groups

The framework doesn't set out a formula for mixing age groups. A common way to estimate it, and the one our calculator uses, is to work out each group's staff as a fraction (children ÷ ratio), add the fractions together and round up. For example, 7 under 2s (2.33), 11 two-year-olds (2.20) and 20 children aged 3 and over at 1:8 (2.50) add up to 7.03, which rounds up to 8 staff. Treat this as guidance, not a rule. Each room still needs enough suitably qualified staff with the children in it, and the qualification rules for each age group still apply. Check the statutory framework, and ask your local authority or Ofsted if you're unsure.

Qualifications

• The manager must hold an approved level 3 or above, and at least half of all other staff must hold at least an approved level 2.
• Under 2s: at least one member of staff with an approved level 3 (or experience-based route status) who is suitably experienced with under 2s. At least half of all other staff with level 2, and at least half of all staff trained in caring for babies. Whoever is in charge of a baby room must have suitable experience with under 2s.
• Two-year-olds: at least one level 3 (or experience-based route status), and at least half of all other staff with level 2.
• 3 and over: at least one other level 3 when working at 1:13. At 1:8, at least one level 3 and at least half of all other staff with level 2.
• Experience-based route: no more than half of the staff counted at level 3 on a premises can count through experience-based route status at any one time.

Who counts in ratios

Nobody under 17 can be counted, except apprentices, who can count from 16. Students and long-term volunteers aged 17 or over, and apprentices aged 16 or over, can count at the level below the one they're studying for. That only applies if you're satisfied they're suitable, competent and responsible, and they hold a current paediatric first aid qualification. A student or apprentice working towards an approved level 3 can count in the level 2 ratio, and one working towards an approved level 6 (EYTS or QTS) can count in the level 3 ratio.

Childminders

• Up to six children under eight at any one time per childminder, including their own children and any they foster.
• Of those, usually no more than three young children. A child is a young child until 31 August after their fifth birthday.
• There should be only one child under one.
• Exceptions can be made if the childminder can show that every child's needs are met, for example for siblings, their own child, continuity of care, or 3 to 5-year-olds who only come before or after school or in the holidays. The total can never be more than six children under eight per person.
• Each assistant or co-childminder can care for the same numbers, subject to any limits on registration. Children can be left with an assistant alone for up to two hours a day, with parents' permission.

Schools

Schools have their own rules. Maintained nursery schools and nursery classes in maintained schools work at 1:13 with a school teacher. Independent schools have their own ratios depending on who is working with the children. Reception classes in maintained schools and academies follow infant class size law, which allows up to 30 pupils per school teacher. See paragraphs 3.52 to 3.56 of the framework for the detail.

Questions

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