Castle Nursery and Preschool
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.9 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Guildford for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in May 2025. Open since 2005, with 43 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Government-funded childcare for children from 9 months old, as well as for 2-year-olds and 3 - 4-year-olds.
Worth knowing. These entitlements are provided in line with the criteria set out by the local authority. Eligibility may vary, so please speak with the Nursery Manager at your preferred setting for guidance on the funding options available to you.
What childcare usually costs in Surrey
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Surrey 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
GU1 3SYWhat 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.
- 28 January 2026 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 8 May 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff create a warm and welcoming nursery for children. Leaders place an emphasis on supporting all children's well-being and ensuring they feel safe and ready to learn. For example, they have created a holiday board where children can bring in magnets from their trips away. This helps children to feel excited, rather than anxious, to return to nursery after a break away, as they look forward to sharing a memento of their trip.
Staff are enthusiastic in their interactions with children and plan exciting experiences to enhance their learning. For example, older children learn about the life cycle of butterflies by looking after caterpillars and show great excitement as they watch the butterflies being released from their net. Staff support children in the toddler room to develop a love of books and reading. Children share stories, and staff allow time for them to talk about what they can see. Babies enjoy a lot of sensory play and lovely attention from the staff who look after them. Staff take great care to settle in babies who are new to the setting and support their individual needs with genuine care and affection.
Children across the nursery form strong connections with their key person, which enhances their well-being and sense of security. Their behaviour is good and they respond positively to staff and follow instructions.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- improve activity planning so that staff focus more precisely on the intent for individual children's next steps in learning, to offer all children more targeted support n provide further support for staff to develop their interactions with children, to help them recognise when to simplify their exchanges with younger children and when to provide more challenge for older and more able children.
- 8 May 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 1 August 2019Good
- 9 March 2015Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Castle Nursery and Preschool
- 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.