From this month the Care Commission will stop annual inspections for providers who only care for three- to-five-year-olds.
Childminders and nurseries caring for children from nought to five will continue to be inspected every year.
The Care Commission said the changes would make it easier to target resources at nurseries that need the most improvement.
Ronnie Hill, director of children's services regulation, said he envisaged around 60 to 65 per cent of services would continue to be inspected annually.
This accounts for 50 per cent of services due inspections in the regulatory year plus an additional element for services not performing satisfactorily.
Some services will be inspected more than once a year and most will be unannounced inspections.
He said, 'The Care Commission is moving to an intelligence-led, proportionate and targeted inspection regime to ensure help is given where it is needed most - poorer performing services.
'Each year we will make a careful assessment of services to determine which require additional or more intense inspections and which will receive the minimum number of inspections. This will take into account a number of factors including previous inspection reports, requirements or enforcement action and the outcome of any complaint investigation against the service.'
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said she agreed with a risk-based inspection approach. 'However, we feel this inspection system should also apply to settings caring for the under-threes. This would not only ensure that there is an equal footing between nurseries caring for different age ranges but would allow the Care Commission to focus resources where they are truly needed.'
Ann McEwan, who owns ABC Nurseries, has two settings in Dumfriesshire and one in Cumbria. Last month inspectors praised one of her Scottish nurseries for the good quality of its under-threes provision.
She said, 'I think there needs to be uniformity. Why should we accept that the school nursery down the road will only be inspected every two years?'
She said she thought there was a bias against the PVI sector.
, which cares for the majority of under-threes, and believes inspections should have remained annual for all providers.
