However, the quality of childcare in deprived areas is of a lower standard overall than in other parts of the country, with a higher proportion of nurseries and childminders inspected achieving lower grades than elsewhere.
Nurseries were found to offer higher quality than childminders in poorer areas, but in other areas they offered comparable levels of care.
Nine per cent of providers inspected between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009 were rated outstanding, compared with 4 per cent of providers awarded the grade during the 2007/08 inspection cycle.
In the last year 1,300 settings were graded inadequate and 150 of them closed.
The figures suggest that nurseries who do well are likely to continue to offer high-quality childcare, with 73 per cent of those achieving outstanding maintaining the grade at their next inspection.
However, the report said that 'some provision appears to be stubbornly resistant to improvement'. Forty per cent of childcare provision judged satisfactory at its previous inspection remained satisfactory at the next inspection.
The report also highlights the 'fluid' nature of the sector and notes that over the past year, more people left jobs in childcare than joined it.
The total number of providers has dropped from 99,900 to 94,800 and there are 200,000 fewer childcare places than last year.
Ofsted said the fall was partly due to changes to registration requirements and the removal from the records of providers who are not currently looking after children. This accounted for the loss of 360 childminders who had not looked after children for the three years to August 2008 who had left the sector, and around 1,500 fewer places.
Around 1,500 childcare providers are no longer required to register, accounting for 48,500 places.
The National Childminding Association and the National Day Nurseries Association said it was vital to address the fact that the quality of childcare was lower in deprived areas.
NDNA chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, 'While most childcare on non-domestic premises is on the whole performing well, as different types of providers are no longer classed by their types, it is difficult to see which sectors might require targeted support to raise standards.'
Catherine Farrell, NCMA joint chief executive, said it was 'extremely encouraging' that the number of registered childminders achieving a good or outstanding Ofsted grading was higher than ever - 65 per cent this year, up from 59 per cent last year.
- See Analysis, p10-11.
