Groombridge Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Tunbridge Wells for children from birth to 5, open 09:00 to 15:00, 5 days a week. £6.80 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in May 2022. Open since 1967, with 30 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
HOURLY RATE: £6.80 PER HOUR
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
Funded hours can be used for full sessions in the morning or afternoon. We offer 30 hours funding.
Worth knowing. Term-time only, so stretched funding is not available; lunch hour payable at standard hourly rate if child only attends morning session and stays for lunch but not full afternoon session; voluntary donation of £1 per hour for funded hours.
What childcare usually costs in East Sussex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in East Sussex 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
TN3 9QXWhat 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, 26 May 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are very happy at the pre-school. They are settled, confident and independent. Children have a positive attitude towards their learning. They remain engaged in motivating experiences that staff carefully plan for them. For example, children become engrossed in talking about the solar system. They go on to use materials to make planets and build on new ideas to make an entire 'robot' outfit.
Children learn a song about space. They can confidently name the planets and a fact about each of them. Children enjoy bringing their imagination alive. For instance, they enjoy 'writing' appointment cards for their friends to attend their 'Xray' at the 'hospital'.
Staff are positive role models, and children know what is expected of them.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- review the organisation of physical play opportunities to offer all children the same challenging experiences n improve arrangements to share information with all staff about the languages spoken in children's homes, to help them build on children's all-round language development even further.
- 26 May 2022Good
- 30 November 2016Good
- 5 July 2013Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Groombridge Pre-School
- Youngest age taken
- 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.
- Is £6.80 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.
- Is there a place for my child's age? 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.