However, the quality of childcare in deprived areas is of a lower standard overall than in other parts of the country, with an 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.
There was no change in the proportion of nurseries found to be inadequate, which stayed at 5 per cent. In the last 12 months 1,300 settings inspected were found to be inadequate and of these, 150 have now closed.
Overall, 65 per cent of nurseries and childminders were found to be good or outstanding and 30 per cent were rated satisfactory.
Sixty per cent of nurseries were rated good or outstanding in deprived areas, compared with 68 per cent in other areas.
For childminding, the gap in the quality of provision is wider, with 53 per cent of childminders good or outstanding in poorer areas, compared with 66 per cent in the least deprived areas.
The figures suggest that those nurseries who do well are likely to continue to offer high-quality childcare, with 73 per cent of nurseries who achieved outstanding in their previous inspection maintaining the grade at their next inspection.
Forty per cent of childcare provision judged satisfactory at its previous inspection keeps that grade at the next inspection.
However, the report said that 'some provision appears to be stubbornly resistant to improvement'.
Ofsted's chief inspector Christine Gilbert said, 'I see evidence of sustained improvement and I see excellence in the most difficult circumstances. But across the range of Ofsted's remit, there remains too much that is mediocre, and persistently so. I see no reason why every nursery, every school, college, children's home, all children's services, should not aspire to be good and to be working towards excellence.'
The report can be found at www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/annualreport0809
