Nurseries and day care for children across Scotland

How nurseries and day care for children across Scotland are graded

Each service's lowest key-question grade, from the Care Inspectorate (6 is Excellent, 1 is Unsatisfactory). 3,144 of 3,256 have published grades; the rest have not been graded yet.

• Excellent (6) 11
• Very good (5) 781
• Good (4) 2,107
• Adequate (3) 214
• Weak (2) 31
• Unsatisfactory (1) 0

Nurseries and day care for children across Scotland

See all 3,256 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 nurseries and day care for children are based

Glasgow 605 Edinburgh 281 Aberdeen 145 Dundee 95 Dunfermline 62 Perth 56 Inverness 51 Paisley 49 Falkirk 39 Livingston 37 Kilmarnock 34 Stirling 34 Ayr 32 Bathgate 31

Common questions

How many nurseries and day care for children are there across Scotland?

There are 3,256 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 nurseries and day care for children across Scotland graded?

The Care Inspectorate grades each service from 1 (Unsatisfactory) to 6 (Excellent) on several key questions. 3,144 of these have published grades. For 2,899 of them the lowest grade is Good (4) or better, and for 31 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?

762 of the 3,256 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.

Browse by council area

Glasgow City 316 City of Edinburgh 304 Fife 218 Highland 197 Aberdeenshire 183 South Lanarkshire 170 North Lanarkshire 169 Aberdeen City 134 West Lothian 109 Perth & Kinross 106 Renfrewshire 103 Angus 88 Dumfries & Galloway 83 East Lothian 81 Scottish Borders 79 Argyll & Bute 77 East Dunbartonshire 76 Falkirk 76 Midlothian 76 Dundee City 75 North Ayrshire 72 East Renfrewshire 66 Moray 61 South Ayrshire 60 Stirling 54 East Ayrshire 51 West Dunbartonshire 48 Inverclyde 36 Shetland Islands 24 Clackmannanshire 22 Na h-Eileanan Siar 22 Orkney Islands 20