How to run a football holiday camp in England

A coaching camp or a general holiday club

What matters to Ofsted is the nature of what you provide, not how parents use it. A camp built around coaching football, where the aim is for children to improve, can fall within Ofsted’s activity-based exemption even if it runs for much of the day, as long as every condition is met, including the limit for children under 5 set out below. Calling a camp coaching does not make it exempt. A general holiday club where football is one activity among several may be treated differently.

Decide which kind of camp you are running before you set your hours, staffing and prices, and describe it plainly when you advertise, so parents know what they are booking.

Do you need to register with Ofsted?

It depends on how your camp runs: the children’s ages, how long each child is with you each day, how many days you run, and what you provide. Ofsted’s guidance on registration exemptions (opens in a new tab) says most childcare providers looking after children under 8 for more than 2 hours a day must register with Ofsted or, where applicable, a childminder agency, unless an exemption applies. Ofsted’s early years blog points out that it is an offence to provide childcare that requires registration without being registered.

The exemption written for coaching is activity-based provision. These are Ofsted’s conditions:

• The children are aged 3 and over.
• You offer coaching or tuition in one or two activities. Sport is one of the activities Ofsted lists.
• The activity is the main focus of what you offer, and any care happens because of it.
• The aim is for children to improve their skills.
• For sport, the focus is a sport rather than general physical activity. Ofsted counts a bouncy castle as physical activity, not sport coaching.
• The exemption does not apply if children under 5 attend for more than 4 hours in any one day.

Time around the activity, such as drop-off, pick-up and breaks for eating and drinking, can sit within the exemption. Ofsted says not every member of staff has to be a specialist coach, but they should have relevant skills.

The guidance also has an exemption for temporary provision: looking after children from one place for 14 days or less in any year, with written notice to Ofsted at least 14 days before you start. The days are counted for each location. Confirm with Ofsted that it applies to you before you rely on it.

You can only apply one exemption, and it must cover all the care you provide and all the children you care for. Ofsted says it is your responsibility to work out which register you need to be on, and that Ofsted decides whether you meet the requirements for registration. If you are unsure, read the guidance in full or ask Ofsted.

If you are exempt, the voluntary part of the Childcare Register is the only way to register. Ofsted says being on it lets parents claim Tax-Free Childcare for your childcare, and the government’s page on help with childcare costs (opens in a new tab) says parents can only use Tax-Free Childcare with an approved provider. Check the requirements before you tell parents they can use it.

Registration means your camp is subject to Ofsted’s oversight for that type of childcare. It is not a rating of your coaching.

If your camp is part of the Holiday Activities and Food programme, Ofsted’s guidance says to work with your local authority on whether you need to register, and its early years blog post on the programme (opens in a new tab) explains how the rules apply.

The rest of this page draws on the Department for Education’s safeguarding guidance for out-of-school settings (opens in a new tab), which covers clubs and activities such as holiday clubs and sports training in England. That guidance is for settings that are not registered with Ofsted or a childminder agency. If your camp is registered, follow the requirements of the register you are on; registered early years providers must follow the Early Years Foundation Stage framework.

Criminal record checks

The check a person can have depends on what they do with the children. Regulated activity with children includes teaching, training, instructing, caring for or supervising children, when it is done often enough or overnight. From 1 September 2026, being supervised by someone else no longer takes that work outside regulated activity (opens in a new tab). The government names supervised assistant coaches at children’s sports clubs among the people affected.

The change does not create a new legal requirement to carry out checks (opens in a new tab), and it does not make every role with children regulated activity. Government guidance says the employer or organisation decides whether a check is appropriate and which level is legally available, so work it out role by role for the people at your camp.

The DfE guidance says not to rely on a single check and to ask referees directly for references. It points out that it is against the law to knowingly take on a barred person to work in regulated activity, and sets out when an organisation must refer someone to the DBS.

Our guide to setting up as a self-employed football coach explains how a self-employed coach working on their own can apply for their own check, and how the DBS Update Service works.

Safeguarding

Have a written safeguarding and child protection policy, and name a designated safeguarding lead for the camp. The DfE guidance recommends both, and says to review the policy every year and after any incident. Make sure everyone working at the camp knows what to do with a concern.

Tell parents and children who your safeguarding lead is and how to reach them. If you work alone, the DfE guidance suggests giving parents the contact details of your local authority’s children’s services or the NSPCC helpline number.

Where a concern goes, as the DfE guidance sets it out:

• If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
• A concern about a child goes to your safeguarding lead, who records it and considers a referral to the local authority’s children’s social care.
• An allegation that someone working at the camp may have harmed a child goes to the local authority designated officer, known as the LADO. Inform the police as well if a crime may have been committed.
• Staff who are not satisfied with how a concern has been handled can refer it to children’s social care or the LADO themselves.

If your camp is run by an affiliated club, the football routes apply as well: the club’s safeguarding contact, the County FA’s Designated Safeguarding Officer, and The FA’s safeguarding team, which you can report to directly. Our guide to safeguarding in grassroots football sets those out. Nobody has to keep a serious concern inside the camp or the club first.

First aid

For an unregistered out-of-school setting, the DfE guidance says to have an appointed person or at least one member of staff with first aid training, and a first aid kit. If children aged 5 and under attend, check the paediatric first aid requirements that apply to your Ofsted status; registered early years providers must follow the Early Years Foundation Stage framework.

Whatever your status, have a written plan for an emergency: the venue’s full address and postcode, how an ambulance gets in, and how you reach each child’s parent or carer. Our guide to first aid in grassroots football has more.

Insurance

Speak to an insurance broker before you take bookings. The DfE guidance asks providers to have appropriate insurance and refers to the legal requirement for employers’ liability insurance. Questions to ask:

1. Does my public liability cover include running a holiday camp for children at this venue?
2. Does the employers’ liability requirement apply to me, and does the policy cover everyone I take on?
3. Are the coaches covered, and does it matter whether they are employed or self-employed?
4. What does the venue require me to hold?

Venue, risk assessment and the day itself

Get the venue agreement in writing: the hours, the spaces you can use, and what happens if the venue cancels. Write a risk assessment for the venue and the activities, with a plan for bad weather. The DfE guidance asks providers to review risk assessments at least once a year, and notes that providers with five or more staff must have a written health and safety policy.

The DfE guidance does not set a staff-to-child ratio. Where children aged 5 and under attend, it asks providers to make sure they are adequately supervised and always within sight or hearing of staff. On working alone, it says it is best practice to have at least two adults present.

Set out drop-off and collection before the first day. Take a register at the start of each session, as the DfE guidance suggests. Record who is allowed to collect each child, decide what you will do if somebody else arrives, and decide what happens if nobody comes.

Medical information, allergies and the data you hold

Collect each child’s medical needs, allergies and medication at booking, along with more than one emergency contact number, as the DfE guidance suggests. Make sure the staff who need that information on the day have it.

Health information is special category data under data protection law and needs extra protection. Keep it secure, limit who can see it, and do not keep it longer than you need. The DfE guidance gives no fixed period, so decide yours, tell parents what it is, and delete the information securely at the end of it. Our guide to setting up as a self-employed football coach covers the information you hold about children, including whether you need to pay the ICO’s data protection fee.

Bookings, refunds and cancellations

Write your terms down and send them with every booking: what is included, the hours, what happens if a child is ill, what happens if you have to cancel, and what you refund in each case.

Listing your camp

When your camp is ready, you can list it on FindMeFootball free, with no commission on what you charge. A listing can show your dates, venue, age groups, spaces left and price, and your safeguarding information and refund policy if you add them. Coaches list a camp from a free coach page, clubs from their claimed club page, and camp businesses from an organiser account.

Our guide for parents choosing a holiday football camp shows the questions we suggest they ask, so read it before you advertise.