Tool

Nursery Ratio and Occupancy Calculator

Ratios set the floor under every nursery's staffing cost, and the gap between the staff the framework requires and the staff on shift is where occupancy, headroom and margin are decided. Groups know the ratios. Fewer have a room-by-room view of where they sit against them on a given day, how many more children each room could take with the staff already there, and what running above the minimum is costing them.

Enter each room as it will run and the calculator gives the statutory minimum staff under the EYFS framework in force from 1 September 2026, the staff your own ratio needs, what the floor space allows, the occupancy you are running at, the headroom in each room, and the weekly cost of staffing above the minimum. Results on screen, nothing stored.

Rooms

Three example rooms are filled in. Overwrite them with yours, call each room what you call it, and add or remove rooms as you need. Age band sets the statutory ratio. The 2s appear twice, at the statutory 1:5 and at 1:4, because many groups kept 1:4 as their own standard when the framework moved to 1:5. Pick the one you run and the results show both. Places are the most children you run that room for. Ofsted registers a number for the setting as a whole, so use your own room cap. Indoor area is the usable floor space in square metres. The framework requires at least 3.5 m² per child under 2, 2.5 m² for 2s and 2.3 m² for 3 to 5s, which sets a second ceiling on the room. Leave it blank if you do not know it.

Staff cost (optional)

Add an hourly cost and the results show what each room's staffing costs per child hour today, at the ratio you run and at the statutory minimum, with the weekly difference. Use the fully loaded cost of a practitioner, pay plus employer's National Insurance, pension and holiday cover. If you only know the hourly pay, adding 20% to 30% gets you close enough to see the shape of it.

Hourly staff cost, fully loaded (£)

Leave blank, or 0, to skip the cost view.

Hours open per day

Days open per week

Results

All rooms

By room

Swipe sideways to see the full table.

Room by room results
Room	Age band	Children	Places	Occupancy	Statutory minimum	At your ratio	Staff on shift	Headroom	Space allows	Status

How to read it. Statutory minimum is the legal minimum staff for the children entered in that room, rounded up to the next person. At your ratio is the staff needed at the ratio you chose to run for that room. Where a QTS, EYPS or EYTS holder is counted under 1:13, the framework also requires at least one other member of staff at level 3, so that room's minimum is never below two adults. Paragraph 3.51 uses the same 'one other' wording for the 1:8 room; the calculator applies the 1:8 arithmetic there and leaves the qualification mix to you. Status is judged against the statutory ratio, with a separate flag where you are inside the law but below your own ratio, and an amber 'Over places' flag where the children in a room exceed the places you set for it. It is worked out room by room, which is the conservative reading. The framework applies the ratios to the staff available across all rooms together, so a setting may carry fewer staff than the room-by-room total if staff can move between rooms and every room still meets the qualification conditions below. Headroom is how many more children that room could take with the staff already on shift at the ratio you run, within the places set for it and, where an area has been entered, within the space standard. Space allows is the number of children the indoor area permits under the space standards. The framework says children must usually be within sight and hearing of staff and always within sight or hearing, paragraph 3.44.

What the framework requires

The ratio requirements apply to the total number of staff available to work directly with children across the whole provision, not just each room. Exceptionally, and where the quality of care and the safety and security of children are maintained, changes to the ratios may be made. Ofsted may require a higher ratio. Paragraph 3.47 and its footnote 42.

Under twos, one member of staff for every three children. At least one member of staff must hold an approved level 3 qualification, or have experience-based route approval, and be suitably experienced in working with under twos. At least half of all other staff must hold an approved level 2. At least half of all staff must have received training that specifically addresses the care of babies. Where there is a room for under two-year-olds, the member of staff in charge of that room must, in the provider's judgement, have suitable experience of working with under twos. Paragraph 3.48.

Two-year-olds, one member of staff for every five children. At least one member of staff at level 3 or with experience-based route approval, and at least half of all other staff at level 2. Paragraph 3.49.

Three-year-olds and over in registered early years provision, where a person with Qualified Teacher Status, Early Years Professional Status or Early Years Teacher Status is working directly with the children, one member of staff for every 13, with at least one other member of staff at level 3. The DfE expects the teacher to be working with the children for the vast majority of the time, and where they are absent for short periods the provider must ensure quality and safety are maintained. Paragraph 3.50 and its footnote 45.

Three-year-olds and over where no person with one of those statuses is working directly with the children, one member of staff for every eight, with at least one other member of staff at level 3 and at least half of all other staff at level 2. Paragraph 3.51.

No more than half of the staff counted at level 3 on a premises may be counted on the basis of experience-based route status; the rest must hold an approved level 3 or higher. Footnote 43.

Nobody under 17 may be counted in ratios, except apprentices from the age of 16. Students and long-term volunteers aged 17 or over, and apprentices aged 16 or over, may be counted at the level below their level of study if the provider is satisfied they are suitable, competent and responsible and they hold a current paediatric first aid qualification. Paragraph 3.57.

Indoor space, where indoor activity in a building forms the main part of, or is integral to, the provision, 3.5 square metres per child under two, 2.5 for two-year-olds, 2.3 for children aged three to five. Providers cannot increase the number of children on roll because they also use an outside area. Exclusively outdoor provision is not required to meet these standards as long as children's needs can be met. Paragraphs 3.83 and 3.84.

Source: Department for Education, Early years foundation stage statutory framework for group and school-based providers, the version effective from 1 September 2026. This calculator applies the ratios for registered early years provision. Independent schools, maintained nursery schools and reception classes have their own provisions in paragraphs 3.52 to 3.56. Figures are a planning aid, not a compliance judgement, and do not replace the provider's own assessment of the needs of the children in the room. Checked against the framework on 3 October 2026. Litus re-verifies this page whenever the Department for Education issues a new framework.

What Comes Next

Ratios and occupancy are one of the five places margin leaks in a nursery group. The Margin Diagnostic goes further, walking the full P&L across funded hour economics, fee architecture, occupancy and ratios, workforce cost, and central overhead to find and size the EBITDA opportunity.

Learn more about the Diagnostic

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