Duchy Preschool And Playgroup
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A pre-school in Exeter for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 07:45 to 18:00, 5 days a week. £10.91 an hour for under 2’s (from 9 months), and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in April 2025. Open since 2016, with 30 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
| Age | Session | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 2’s (from 9 months)birth to 2m | – | £10.91Under 2’s (from 9 months) | |
| 2 year olds2y to 3y | – | £8.752 year olds | |
| 3 and 4 year olds3y to 4y | – | £7.403 and 4 year olds | |
| School age children | £6.73rising to £7.40 in April 26 £7.40Late for school age children* £8.33rising to £9.16 in April 26 £9.16Breakfast club for school age children* £11.70rising to £12.87 in April 26 £12.87Teatime club for school age children* | – |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £0.50 a day Snacksvoluntary additional fee during funded sessions; can opt out
- £0.50 a day Activitiesvoluntary additional fee during funded sessions; can opt out
- £1.75 Breakfast Mealif attending breakfast session; voluntary additional fee during funded
- £1.75 Tea Mealif attending teatime session; voluntary additional fee during funded
- £2.00 a session Early Drop Off
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15 hours funded Childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds – Universal Funding; 30 hours funded childcare for children of working parents from 9 months old; Two year old funding – 15 hours – For ‘Families Requiring Additional Support’ (FRAS).
Worth knowing. Voluntary additional fees during funded sessions for snacks, activities, breakfast meal, tea meal; parents can opt out; no registration fee for funded sessions.
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
EX5 4NLWhat 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, 24 April 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff warmly welcome children. They provide carefully planned learning activities for children to play with and explore. Staff know children well, and children are happy and settled. The curriculum children experience builds effectively on what they already know and can do. For example, children show a real interest in bugs and insects. Staff build children's interests and knowledge as they provide opportunities for children to plant seeds in new flower beds and care for growing seedlings. As children water the plants, they delight in watching small worms and ants moving in the soil. Staff speak with children about features of the bugs.
Children eagerly share observations, saying, 'They are thin and wiggly and covered in lines.' Staff use the opportunity well to promote care for living things.
Throughout the pre-school, staff form strong bonds with children, and children's personal, social and emotional skills flourish. Children are confident and eager to interact with visitors, asking them questions and inviting them to play. Children show respect and kindness towards each other as they play, and staff teach children strategies to promote sharing skills. Children's behaviour is good. Staff have high expectations of children in their learning and behaviour, and children make choices they feel proud of.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- provide children with adequate thinking time to process and respond to questions.
- 24 April 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 23 September 2019Good
- 9 October 2018Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Duchy Preschool And Playgroup
- Meals
- 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.
- Is £10.91 an hour still the rate? 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.