Licensing criteria for hospital-based ECE services

Section 10 of the Education and Training Act 2020(external link) defines hospital-based education and care service as the provision of education or care to 3 or more children under the age of 6 who are receiving hospital care.

ECE services operating from hospital premises that provide education and care to siblings of patients or children of hospital staff or patients are centre-based ECE services, not hospital-based ECE services.

Hospital-based services are licensed in accordance with the Education and Training Act 2020 under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008(external link), which prescribe minimum standards that each licensed service must meet. Licensing criteria are used to assess how the services meet the minimum standards required by the regulations.

For each criterion there is guidance to help services meet the required standards.

The publication of the criteria on its own can be downloaded as a PDF [PDF, 1.2 MB] and printed.

The licensing criteria were last updated in September 2022.

Curriculum criteria documentation required

Documentation that provides evidence of the service’s compliance with criteria C1-C13.

Documentation may take a variety of forms to suit the service’s operation (such as portfolios, wall displays, policies and procedures) but must include:

1. A process for providing positive guidance to encourage social competence in children; (C10)

2. A process for providing formal and informal opportunities for parents to:

  • communicate with adults providing education and care about their child, and share specific evidence of the child’s learning, and
  • be involved in decision-making concerning their child’s learning; (C12) and

3. A record of information and guidance sought from agencies and/or services (C13).