British values in early years

The four values, and whose rule it is

The Department for Education defines fundamental British values as “democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs”, in paragraph A1.52 of its statutory guidance for local authorities, Early education and childcare (valid from 1 April 2026). There are four values, not five; lists of five usually split the last one into mutual respect and tolerance. For nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England, the rule that they must actively promote them is a condition of government funding, not a line in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Two sets of regulations carry it. Regulation 2 of the Local Authority (Duty to Secure Early Years Provision Free of Charge) Regulations 2014, which cover the universal hours for three- and four-year-olds and the funded hours for eligible two-year-olds, makes an “excluded provider” of any early years provider that the local authority “has reasonable grounds to believe” either “does not actively promote the fundamental British values” or “promotes as evidence-based views or theories which are contrary to established scientific or historical evidence and explanations”. Places at an excluded provider do not count towards the authority's duty to secure free early education, and regulation 8(1)(c)(vi) lets the authority write “the active promotion of the fundamental British values” into its arrangements with a provider or a childminder agency. The Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 repeat both rules for the working-parent entitlement, at regulation 6(2)(b) and regulation 47(1)(d), and that entitlement now starts at nine months, so the funding condition reaches babies and toddlers as well as pre-schoolers.

The funding guidance turns that into instructions for local authorities. They should “not fund providers who do not actively promote fundamental British values” (A3.13), and they cannot meet their duty to secure free places by securing places at a provider they have reasonable grounds to believe “is not actively promoting fundamental British values” (A4.23). The guidance applies to England.

Schools reach the same values by a different route. The excluded-provider test in regulation 2 names any early years provider, schools included, but a maintained school's nursery or reception class sits outside the funding-agreement requirements: regulation 8(1) of the 2014 Regulations and regulation 47(1) of the 2022 Regulations exclude the governing body of a maintained school, and the guidance says paragraphs A4.12 to A4.20 “do not apply where the entitlements are provided by local authority maintained schools”. A maintained school meets the expectation through its duty under section 78 of the Education Act 2002 to promote “the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society”, as the Department for Education's non-statutory 2014 advice Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools explains. Academies and independent schools meet the relevant standard only if the proprietor “actively promotes the fundamental British values” (paragraph 5(a) of the Schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014).

Nurseries and childminders registered for early years also have the Prevent duty. Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 requires each body listed in Schedule 6 to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”, and the list includes providers registered under Part 3 of the Childcare Act 2006: nurseries and childminders on the Early Years Register or with a childminder agency, later years providers on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register, and the agencies themselves. A nanny on the voluntary register is not covered. The Home Office's Prevent duty guidance for England and Wales (2023) says schools and further education settings help learners towards “the knowledge, skills and values that will prepare them to be citizens in modern Britain” and, in England, “are required to actively promote the fundamental British values” (paragraph 180). It adds, for early years, that the EYFS framework “supports providers to do this in an age-appropriate way, through ensuring children learn right from wrong, mix and share with other children, and value other views”.

The EYFS itself never uses the phrase. Neither of the EYFS statutory frameworks in force from 1 September 2026, the framework for group and school-based providers and the framework for childminders, contains the words “British values”, “democracy” or “rule of law”, and none of the changes to the EYFS from 1 September 2026 concerns them. So a registered nursery or childminder that takes no funded children has no free-standing statutory duty to “actively promote” the values; it still has the Prevent duty and the EYFS, whose learning goals carry the same practice. This guide covers England: the Prevent duty also applies to registered childcare in Wales, but the English funding rule, the EYFS and Ofsted do not.

What the four values look like with young children

The EYFS early learning goals describe where this practice leads, not what a two-year-old should be doing: they set out what children “at the expected level of development” can do at the end of reception, and paragraph 1.8 of the group framework says they “should not be used as a curriculum”. Under all of them sits the framework's aim of “Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported” (paragraph 4). Matched to the four values, everyday practice looks like this:

• Democracy. Taking turns, listening while someone else speaks, and making small group choices together, such as which story comes next or which song to sing, with every child's voice heard, every choice counted and the result kept to. The Building Relationships goal: “Work and play cooperatively and take turns with others.”
• The rule of law. A few clear rules for indoors and the garden, explained rather than announced, applied the same way to everyone, and talked through when something goes wrong, so that children learn to take responsibility for putting it right. The Managing Self goal: “Explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly.”
• Individual liberty. Real opportunities to choose: choices about play, food and activities, the confidence to say what they want and to say no, and the freedom to try something new and get it wrong. The framework's description of personal, social and emotional development adds that, “through supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably”.
• Mutual respect and tolerance. Learning about each other's families, homes, languages, food, faiths and festivals, with books, dolls and other resources that reflect a range of families, and noticing what is shared as well as what is different. The People, Culture and Communities goal: “Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.” Building Relationships adds: “Show sensitivity to their own and to others' needs.”

With babies and toddlers, most of this is in the adults' behaviour: offering a choice between two things and waiting for the answer, naming feelings, keeping routines fair, and treating each family's way of doing things with respect. For three- and four-year-olds it becomes visible in the group: a show of hands for the next song, a rule agreed on the carpet, a child explaining how her family celebrates.

Promoting the values does not mean flags, the monarchy or tea parties. The values are democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, and a setting that teaches turn-taking, fairness, choice and kindness well is already doing most of what is asked. The useful work is being able to name which value an ordinary activity carries, so that staff can explain it to a parent or an inspector without a script.

How it is checked: the local authority and Ofsted

The local authority checks British values, through the funding agreement, but it is not required to go looking. Paragraph A4.27 of the funding guidance says the rule “should not be interpreted as imposing an obligation on local authorities proactively to inspect providers”, and that authorities “can investigate allegations and, where appropriate, withdraw funding”. Authorities “should respond to substantive and well-evidenced concerns that are brought to their attention” (A4.24). When a complaint arrives, A4.28 asks the authority to weigh three factors, which it says are not exhaustive:

• Source: the relationship between the person making the claim and the setting. “A claim being made by a parent or member of staff will usually carry more weight than one made by a third party.”
• Substance: “how well-evidenced is the allegation?”
• Severity: “in addition to substance, the severity of the claim will be a critical factor in determining appropriate steps”.

The presumption, A4.29 says, is that local authorities “will consider, but not necessarily investigate, all claims made”; if a claim is taken further, they “should notify and consult the appropriate regulator”. If funding is withdrawn, the authority should secure other places for the funded children as soon as practicable and make arrangements to review its decision “if new information comes to light” (A4.30). A complaint is not an automatic withdrawal of funding, but a claim from a parent or a member of staff will usually carry more weight than one from a third party.

Ofsted does not inspect British values by name in a nursery or childminder inspection. Its early years inspection toolkit (version 2.0, June 2026, for inspections from 1 September 2026) does not use the phrase, and its early years inspection information says of the EYFS: “Inspection is aligned with these principles and requirements. We do not have additional or separate rules.” The practice behind the values is evaluated all the same, some of it in the expected standard that every setting is graded against:

• Curriculum and teaching: “The curriculum recognises and promotes equality and diversity”, and practitioners promote children's understanding of “the world and other people and communities beyond their own”.
• Behaviour and routines: “Practitioners teach children the importance of treating others with kindness, care and respect and are positive role models”, and incidents of poor behaviour, “including unkind or discriminatory words and/or actions”, are “quickly addressed”.
• Welfare and wellbeing: whether “children respect the different protected characteristics” defined by the Equality Act 2010.
• Safeguarding: the toolkit describes as not met a setting where “Leaders and practitioners do not follow the requirements for safer recruitment, reporting, referrals and the ‘Prevent’ duty”.

Ofsted's findings also feed the funding decision: the inspection information says “Local authorities may use our inspection findings to make decisions about funding for settings.” In a school the picture differs. Ofsted's state-funded school inspection toolkit lists “developing and deepening pupils' understanding of the fundamental British values” as a personal development and wellbeing factor and says “All the toolkit evaluation areas apply to the early years”, so a school's nursery and reception classes are considered within it, proportionately. The early years inspection guide explains the grades and the inspection day.

Evidence without a British values folder

No rule requires a British values folder, display board or photograph log. Ofsted's early years inspection information says settings “do not need to provide evidence for the inspection beyond what we ask for or that is required by the EYFS”, that it does “not expect leaders to produce written evidence to support each standard in each evaluation area”, and: “We do not require photographic evidence of what children are doing and learning in settings.”

What helps, when a funding officer, an inspector or a parent asks, is being able to show and explain what the setting already does:

• A short statement in the setting's policies or prospectus naming the four values and saying how everyday practice promotes them.
• The curriculum and routines that carry each value, which staff can describe in their own words.
• Staff who understand the Prevent duty and know who to tell about a concern, with their training recorded; the Prevent duty records guide covers what to keep.
• A record of how parents' questions and complaints about the setting's approach were handled, and what was said in reply.

Most of what ranks for “British values evidence” is written for schools, and its examples do not translate directly. A school council “whose members are voted for by the pupils” is an example from the Department for Education's 2014 advice for maintained schools, not an expectation for a pre-school; a group of three-year-olds choosing the next story by putting a block in a basket does the same job at their age. In a reception class, teachers are also bound by Part Two of the Teachers' Standards, which expects them to uphold public trust by “not undermining fundamental British values”. Those standards apply to teachers – Part Two, in misconduct cases, wherever the teacher works – not to early years practitioners who are not qualified teachers, and the Early Years Teachers' Standards (2013) do not mention British values.

Festivals, faith and where the limits are

Celebrating religious festivals does not conflict with British values. The second limb of the funding rule, about promoting views “contrary to established scientific or historical evidence and explanations”, “is intended to cover the presentation of creationism as scientific fact. It has no bearing on teaching children about religious beliefs, expressions of religious faith, traditions and festivals” (A4.25). Paragraph A4.26 adds: “Providers who wish to celebrate religious and cultural festivals, for example putting on a nativity play, a harvest festival or a celebration of Eid, can still do so.”

Promoting the values does not mean endorsing every belief. The Department for Education's 2014 advice says “It is not necessary for schools or individuals to ‘promote’ teachings, beliefs or opinions that conflict with their own, but nor is it acceptable for schools to promote discrimination against people or groups on the basis of their belief, opinion or background”, and that “Actively promoting the values means challenging opinions or behaviours in school that are contrary to fundamental British values.” That advice is non-statutory and written for maintained schools, but it is the clearest official statement of where the line sits, and the EYFS commitment to anti-discriminatory practice points the same way.

Young children repeat what they hear, and most of it calls for an ordinary, proportionate response: name it kindly, explain how people are treated here, and tell the key person or manager if it comes up again. Prevent sits inside safeguarding, not beside it. The Prevent duty guidance says settings are not “required to have a separate policy on the Prevent duty” and that the duty “should be seen as part of the setting's wider safeguarding approach” (paragraph 163), and the EYFS requires providers to take the Prevent duty guidance into account when acting on concerns about a child (paragraph 3.9 of the group framework; 3.10 for childminders). A concern that goes further goes to the designated safeguarding lead (for a childminder, that is the childminder); the Prevent duty guide covers training, risk assessment and referrals. Schools will also know the definition in Keeping children safe in education 2026, Annex A: “Extremism is the vocal or active opposition to our fundamental British values”. KCSIE applies to schools and colleges, including school-based nurseries and reception, not to nurseries and childminders outside schools.

The conversations behind a complaint

Most questions about a setting's values arrive as messages. A parent asks the key person why the nursery is marking a festival their family does not celebrate. Another objects to a picture book. A practitioner messages the manager on a Sunday about something a child said at drop-off, and the manager replies with what to do on Monday. A parent who is unhappy with an answer writes to the local authority.

At that point the setting's side of the exchange is evidence. The funding guidance asks the authority to weigh the source, substance and severity of a claim, and says a parent's claim will usually carry more weight than a third party's. What the setting actually said, and when, is often a thread on a staff member's personal phone, and it leaves when they do.

ComplyChat is built for the work conversations a setting needs to keep. On paid plans, staff, and parents added by their mobile number, talk in channels the setting controls, everyone added is told the channel is on the record, and once the setting's Microsoft 365 tenant is connected, conversations are kept under retention schedules within the setting's own Microsoft 365 subscription. It is not a curriculum, observation or learning-journal tool, and it does not evidence the teaching itself: that lives in your practice and your planning. The question for the next staff meeting: if a parent's complaint about your approach reached the local authority tomorrow, could you produce the conversation you had with them?

Questions people ask

How do early years settings promote British values?

Through everyday practice rather than lessons. The Home Office's Prevent duty guidance says the EYFS framework “supports providers to do this in an age-appropriate way, through ensuring children learn right from wrong, mix and share with other children, and value other views”. In practice that means taking turns and simple group choices (democracy), explaining the setting's rules (the rule of law), making and voicing their own choices (individual liberty), and learning about families, faiths and cultures other than their own (mutual respect and tolerance), building towards the early learning goals children are assessed against at the end of reception.

What are the 5 British values Ofsted looks for?

There are four, not five, and they are the government's rather than Ofsted's: democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, as defined in the 2014 and 2022 regulations and the Department for Education's funding guidance. Lists of five usually split the last value into mutual respect and tolerance. Ofsted's school inspection toolkit uses the same four values; its 2026 early years toolkit does not mention British values.

Which British values link to safeguarding?

The link runs through the Prevent duty rather than any single value. Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 requires registered early years providers, including childminders, to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”, and the EYFS 2026 frameworks require providers to take the Prevent duty guidance into account when acting on concerns about a child (paragraph 3.9; 3.10 for childminders). For schools, including their nursery and reception classes, KCSIE 2026 defines extremism as “the vocal or active opposition to our fundamental British values”.

Is promoting British values a legal requirement in early years?

For a nursery, pre-school or childminder in England that offers government-funded hours, yes in effect: places at a provider the local authority has reasonable grounds to believe “does not actively promote the fundamental British values” do not count towards its free-entitlement duty, and the Department for Education's funding guidance tells authorities not to fund such a provider. The EYFS itself does not mention British values; schools with nursery or reception classes have their own school duties, and every nursery and childminder registered for early years has the Prevent duty.

Does Ofsted inspect British values in early years?

Not by name in a nursery or childminder inspection: Ofsted's early years inspection toolkit (v2.0, June 2026) does not use the phrase, and Ofsted says “We do not have additional or separate rules” beyond the EYFS. Inspectors do evaluate the related practice – equality and diversity in the curriculum, kindness and respect, the protected characteristics – and safeguarding, judged met or not met, includes the Prevent duty. In a school's nursery or reception class, the school toolkit names fundamental British values explicitly.

How can you demonstrate British values?

By being able to show and explain what you already do, not by building a separate file: Ofsted says early years settings “do not need to provide evidence for the inspection beyond what we ask for or that is required by the EYFS” and that it does “not require photographic evidence”. Useful evidence is a short statement in the setting's policies, the curriculum and routines that carry each value, and a record of how parents' concerns were handled.

Official guidance and your next step

The funding rule is in regulations 2 and 8 of the 2014 Regulations, regulations 6 and 47 of the 2022 Regulations and paragraphs A1.52, A3.13 and A4.23 to A4.30 of the Department for Education's Early education and childcare statutory guidance. The practice sits in the EYFS statutory framework; the Prevent duty in the Home Office's Prevent duty guidance; inspection in Ofsted's early years inspection toolkit and early years inspection information. For schools, the Department for Education's 2014 advice Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools remains the reference. Quotations are from those pages as published on 21 October 2026.

This guide covers England and is not legal advice. Your local authority's funding agreement sets out its own requirements, and your authority may publish guidance of its own for providers.

Then do one thing: find the sentence in your policies or prospectus that says how your setting promotes British values, and check that it describes what your staff actually do this week, in words a parent would recognise.