Acorns Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.4 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Exeter for babies from 9 months up to 5 year olds, open 07:45 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in July 2025. Open since 2022, with 82 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
15 or 30 hours per week, usually during term time only. Government funding is available to eligible working parents from the term after their child turns 9 months old.
Worth knowing. Funded sessions can be combined with wraparound care if you need longer days. Consumable charges apply at £3.50 per funded session. Ad hoc sessions are subject to availability and will be charged at a higher rate from 1st April 2026. We require at least 24 hours notice for ad hoc requests.
What childcare usually costs in Devon
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Devon from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
EX2 8HNWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 9 July 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children enjoy coming to this warm and friendly nursery. They settle quickly and are familiar with the daily routines. Children form strong attachments with staff and develop good social skills. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour.
They model the use of good manners and teach toddlers and two-year-old children to recognise their feelings and emotions. Children behave well and demonstrate friendly behaviour. For example, when pre-school children are asked to hold open a door for their friends, they spontaneously initiate 'high fives' with the other children as they walk past.
Leaders and staff plan a broad and ambitious curriculum, to challenge children and help them develop the knowledge and skills needed for later learning, including school. All children make good progress. Staff provide good support to babies and toddlers to develop their physical skills. For example, they hold the children's hands as they learn to walk and balance along stepping stones. Pre-school children develop a love of books. After they vote for their favourite story, they listen to staff read with rapt attention. Children count confidently and use mathematical language when they play.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- develop staff's interactions with children to provide children with more encouragement and time to think about and share their thoughts and ideas n support children to understand the reasons for the nursery's rules and the potential consequences of their behaviour and actions.
- 9 July 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 9 January 2025Needs improvement Safeguarding: Yes
Rated Good or Outstanding at 1 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Acorns Day Nursery
- What it costs
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.