Care in Scotland
Childminders in Highland
118 childminders in Highland, run by 118 providers. Of the 101 with Care Inspectorate grades, 92 (91%) have no area graded below Good.
Registered services
118
run by 118 providers
Average grade
4.5 / 6
Scotland: 4.5. The mean of each service's key-question grades.
Graded in the last 12 months
16%
19 of 118. A grade describes a service on the day it was inspected.
How childminders in Highland are graded
Each service's lowest key-question grade, from the Care Inspectorate (6 is Excellent, 1 is Unsatisfactory). 101 of 118 have published grades; the rest have not been graded yet.
- Excellent (6) 0
- Very good (5) 39
- Good (4) 53
- Adequate (3) 7
- Weak (2) 2
- Unsatisfactory (1) 0
Childminders in Highland
| Service | Town | Lowest grade | Graded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alice Wilson | Ballachulish | 5 Very good | Jun 2022 |
| Alison Green | Wick | 5 Very good | May 2022 |
| Allison Munro | Wick | 5 Very good | Sep 2026 |
| Alyson Wiltshire | Inverness | 5 Very good | Mar 2023 |
| Amy Murphie | Grantown-on-Spey | 5 Very good | Sep 2024 |
| Audrey MacKenzie | Alness | 5 Very good | Oct 2019 |
| Black Isle Childminder - Karen | Dingwall | 5 Very good | May 2018 |
| Charlotte Garscadden | Lybster | 5 Very good | Jun 2019 |
| Colleen Ryan | Fort William | 5 Very good | Jan 2022 |
| Donna Hay | Inverness | 5 Very good | Jan 2024 |
| Emma Shaw | Inverness | 5 Very good | Jan 2024 |
| Emma's Childminding | Fortrose | 5 Very good | Aug 2018 |
| Estelle Fraser | Inverness | 5 Very good | Dec 2019 |
| Gateside Daycare | Tain | 5 Very good | Feb 2022 |
| Happy Hands Childcare | Inverness | 5 Very good | Sep 2026 |
| Helen Crawford Childminding | THURSO | 5 Very good | Apr 2024 |
| Joan Carson | Inverness | 5 Very good | Jul 2026 |
| Karen Cameron Childminding | Fortrose | 5 Very good | Aug 2021 |
| Karen Coburn | Strathpeffer | 5 Very good | Nov 2021 |
| Karen Williamson | INVERNESS | 5 Very good | May 2024 |
| Kathleen MacGillivray | Fort William | 5 Very good | Jan 2022 |
| Katrina Stirling | Carrbridge | 5 Very good | Oct 2019 |
| Kingussie Childcare | Kingussie | 5 Very good | Mar 2026 |
| Leys View Childcare | Inverness | 5 Very good | Sep 2023 |
| Lisa Coli Childminding | Strathpeffer | 5 Very good | Aug 2024 |
| Little Gems | Inverness | 5 Very good | Oct 2022 |
| Lorraine Sutherland | Thurso | 5 Very good | May 2022 |
| Mary Hannant | Inverness | 5 Very good | Jun 2022 |
| Mary Hutt | Inverness | 5 Very good | Sep 2021 |
| Messy Nessie Child Care | Inverness | 5 Very good | Aug 2023 |
See all 118 in the directory, with filters and search →
Premium and Featured listings are promoted placements (the provider pays, or occasionally we give a plan) and appear first. They never change a grade.
Where childminders are in Highland
Inverness 49 Thurso 9 Fort William 7 Alness 5 Dingwall 5 Grantown-on-Spey 5 Muir of Ord 5 Fortrose 4 Avoch 3 Ballachulish 2 Carrbridge 2 Invergordon 2 Kingussie 2 Lairg 2
The wider picture in Highland
- 210 adults were waiting in hospital to leave in September 2026 (Public Health Scotland).
- 28,960 people are aged 75 or over, projected to be 36,984 by 2036 (National Records of Scotland).
- 38% of registered care services reported staff vacancies at 31 December 2024 (SSSC and Care Inspectorate; all types of service).
Common questions
How many childminders are there in Highland?
There are 118 registered with the Care Inspectorate and listed here (data as at 30 September 2026). The same address can hold more than one registration, so this is a count of registrations, not buildings.
How are childminders in Highland graded?
The Care Inspectorate grades each service from 1 (Unsatisfactory) to 6 (Excellent) on several key questions. 101 of these have published grades. For 92 of them the lowest grade is Good (4) or better, and for 2 it is Weak (2) or Unsatisfactory (1). A service with no grade has not been graded yet, which is common for new registrations.
How recently have they been inspected?
19 of the 118 were graded in the last 12 months. Each service page shows the date, because a grade describes the service on the day it was inspected.
How do I choose one?
Use the grades as a starting point, not a verdict: read the latest inspection report on the Care Inspectorate's own page for each service, visit if you can, and ask the questions that matter to you. Your council's social work department or health and social care partnership can also help. We do not recommend any one service.
Other care in Highland
Nurseries and day care for children 197 Childminders 118 Care at home services 75 Care homes 63 Housing support services 39 All care in Highland
Source: Care Inspectorate open data under the Open Government Licence v3.0, as at 30 September 2026. Grades are never changed or estimated here. This is not a recommendation or care advice: see how to use this site and about the data.