Care in Scotland
Nurseries and day care for children in Shetland Islands
24 nurseries and day care for children in Shetland Islands, run by 5 providers. Of the 23 with Care Inspectorate grades, 20 (87%) have no area graded below Good.
Registered services
24
run by 5 providers
Average grade
4.5 / 6
Scotland: 4.4. The mean of each service's key-question grades.
Graded in the last 12 months
29%
7 of 24. A grade describes a service on the day it was inspected.
How nurseries and day care for children in Shetland Islands are graded
Each service's lowest key-question grade, from the Care Inspectorate (6 is Excellent, 1 is Unsatisfactory). 23 of 24 have published grades; the rest have not been graded yet.
- Excellent (6) 0
- Very good (5) 3
- Good (4) 17
- Adequate (3) 3
- Weak (2) 0
- Unsatisfactory (1) 0
Nurseries and day care for children in Shetland Islands
| Service | Town | Lowest grade | Graded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Isle Pre-School | Shetland | 5 Very good | Dec 2025 |
| Lerwick Early Learning and Childcare | Shetland | 5 Very good | Jun 2025 |
| Whiteness Early Years | Shetland | 5 Very good | Sep 2024 |
| Aith Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Dec 2023 |
| ASN Holiday Club | Shetland | 4 Good | Aug 2025 |
| Baltasound Junior High School Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Dec 2019 |
| Bell's Brae Primary School Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Oct 2025 |
| Brae High School Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Jul 2026 |
| Cunningsburgh Early Years | Shetland | 4 Good | Mar 2019 |
| Happyhansel Primary School Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Nov 2025 |
| Islesburgh Out of School Care Service | Shetland | 4 Good | May 2025 |
| Lunnasting Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | May 2025 |
| Mid Yell Junior High Nursery School | Shetland | 4 Good | Oct 2024 |
| Mossbank Wraparound Care | Shetland | 4 Good | Oct 2025 |
| Sandwick Junior High School Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Jun 2026 |
| Scalloway Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Nov 2023 |
| Sound Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Aug 2022 |
| Tingwall Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Sep 2022 |
| Urafirth Early Years | Shetland | 4 Good | Jan 2019 |
| Whalsay School Nursery | Shetland | 4 Good | Jul 2024 |
| Burra Early Years | Shetland | 3 Adequate | Jun 2026 |
| Dunrossness Nursery | Shetland | 3 Adequate | May 2026 |
| Peerie Foxes Ltd | SHETLAND | 3 Adequate | Jun 2026 |
| Hame Fae Hame | Shetland | not yet graded |
See all 24 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 in Shetland Islands
The wider picture in Shetland Islands
- 9 adults were waiting in hospital to leave in September 2026 (Public Health Scotland).
- 2,747 people are aged 75 or over, projected to be 3,453 by 2036 (National Records of Scotland).
- 55% of registered care services reported staff vacancies at 31 December 2024 (SSSC and Care Inspectorate; all types of service).
Common questions
How many nurseries and day care for children are there in Shetland Islands?
There are 24 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 in Shetland Islands graded?
The Care Inspectorate grades each service from 1 (Unsatisfactory) to 6 (Excellent) on several key questions. 23 of these have published grades. For 20 of them the lowest grade is Good (4) or better, and for 0 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?
7 of the 24 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 Shetland Islands
Nurseries and day care for children 24 Care at home services 14 Care homes 9 Childminders 4 Housing support services 4 All care in Shetland Islands
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.