Toddlers University
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.5 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Ilkeston for babies from 3 months up to school age, open 07:30 to 17:30, 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 They do not publish prices, so ask.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 2016, with 66 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Eligible children can access 15 or 30 hours of free childcare per week.
What childcare usually costs in Derbyshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Derbyshire 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
DE7 5DRWhat 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.
- 5 February 2026 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 2 July 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy and excited as they enter the nursery. They confidently leave their parents and carers to begin their day. Children thoroughly enjoy being physically active in the garden. Staff play games with children to encourage them to move their bodies in different ways. For example, when staff call out 'crab', children quickly bend their knees and walk sideways. This helps children develop their larger muscles. Staff support younger children as they attempt to use balancing beams, holding their hands if necessary to support them. Older children take turns with their friends and confidently hold their arms out to the side while walking quickly across the beam, showing good balance and coordination. Staff praise children's efforts, helping them build self-esteem.
Staff provide opportunities for children to develop their independence, such as through daily routines. They guide young children to carefully pour themselves a cup of milk from a jug. Children learn how to serve themselves snacks. Staff give older children the responsibility for finding their hats on their coat pegs in readiness to play outside in the warm weather, to keep themselves safe in the sun. Children are kind, and they help others to find their hats when they need it. Children become increasingly independent.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to apply consistent behaviour expectations, so children receive clear messages about acceptable behaviour n ensure that staff consistently use their knowledge of each child to plan and deliver activities that support and challenge them n support staff to implement the intent of planned activities to build on older children's learning.
- 2 July 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 19 September 2019Good
- 19 October 2018Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Toddlers University
- What it costs
- 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.