Major update on nursery chain served with safeguarding notice by Ofsted

Eight Cambridgeshire nurseries were served with the notice in June

Ofsted has provided an update on a nursery chain that was told it wasn’t meeting safeguarding and welfare requirements. Back in June, Ofsted served Bright Horizons with a Welfare Requirements Notice (WRN).

The chain runs 247 sites across England, including eight in Cambridgeshire. Ofsted carried out checks between October 2025 and June 2026 and found “significant weaknesses in organisational safeguarding leadership, governance, oversight and practice”.

Ofsted has since carried out further inspections at 68 nurseries, which were selected through a risk-based analysis. The care inspectors have found that “measurable progress has been made”.

The latest visits have shown that significant resources have been invested into strengthening safeguarding, governance and oversight, as well as training.

However, inspectors identified breaches at 39 nurseries, including significant weaknesses in safeguarding, leadership and governance. Ofsted has issued another WRN to Bright Horizons setting out actions the chain needs to take. The names of these 29 nurseries have not been disclosed.

The actions relate to: concerns about children’s safety and welfare; safeguarding policies and procedures; and staff supervision.

The eight nurseries in Cambridgeshire are:

• Eddington Nursery, Cambridge
• Wolfson Court Day Nursery and Preschool, Cambridge
• Bright Horizons Cambridge Milton Road Day Nursery and Pre-school, Cambridge
• Cambridge Science Park Day Nursery and Preschool, Cambridge
• Long Road Day Nursery and Preschool, Cambridge
• Bunnybrookes Day Nursery and Preschool, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge
• Fulbourn Day Nursery and Preschool, Fulbourn
• Ely Day Nursery and Preschool, Ely

His Majesty’s chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said: “While I’m pleased to see evidence of improvement across the Bright Horizons group, work is still needed to ensure that requirements are met consistently. The majority of Bright Horizons nurseries are doing well, but we have set clear expectations about what needs to improve.

“We will always take any necessary action to keep children safe, because every single child deserves the same level of care and protection.”