University Nursery at West Cambridge

The University Nursery, 8 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FZ
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9.9 146 Reviews
  • University Nursery at West Cambridge, Cambridge
University at West Cambridge is a purpose built nursery situated on the West Cambridge campus of Cambridge University.

A friendly and enthusiastic staff team works closely with the children to provide continuity between nursery and life at home. Professionals believe parent partnership is important to allow key people to support each child and their families as individuals.

The nursery offers childcare for employees of the University of Cambridge but also have a restricted amount of spots for local families who do not work or study at the university.

Each age group has its own designated garden directly outside its playroom, enabling all children to access a secure outdoor environment at any time of the day. The nursery has also obtained their Green Flag Eco-Schools Award.

In each of the five age groups, the children explore in light, airy and spacious rooms which provide them with the opportunity to grow and develop through a stimulating and sociable environment.
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Lesa Clare (Manager)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 64

Total Places for Children

  • 120

Age Range

  • from 0 years 3 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Opening Times

  • Monday 08:00-18:00
    Tuesday 08:00-18:00
    Wednesday 08:00-18:00
    Thursday 08:00-18:00
    Friday 08:00-18:00

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays (excluding May Bank Holidays)

Parking

  • Parking is on a shared car park pass.

University Nursery at West Cambridge Reviews (146)

9.9

University Nursery at West Cambridge has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.943) out of 10, based on 32 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time University Nursery at West Cambridge has 146 reviews.

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Reviewer Connection to University Nursery at West Cambridge
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Review from Sepma P (Mother of Child) published on 27 September 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
It's a really good nursery and we're quite happy with it. The people who look after my son are really good with him. He really likes them. They always give us detailed feedback about what he did during the day.
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Review from Deniz T (Mother of Child) published on 13 July 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
This has been a fantastic setting for both my son and daughter. We were always listened to. Staff are very helpful and caring. I recommend this nursery to all of my friends/colleagues. The staff are very understanding to the new starters and during the transition periods. BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE.
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Review from Matt R (Father of Child) published on 18 May 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Generally very good.


Helpful staff who care.


The only improvement would be to manage the parking bays as it can be difficult to park at peak times and sometimes cars have been parked all day.


Given the opportunity, we will be sending our new son here too!

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Review from Njemile F (Mother of Child) published on 12 April 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son is vegetarian (no meat, fish or eggs) and the nursery staff have explored different foods and recipes so that he does not get left out for birthday cakes, pancake day and other special occasions. For this, we are very grateful. In addition, the nursery staff noticed that he doesn't like gravy
and adjusted his daily menu to suit. This was incredible given the number of children they look after. My husband and I cannot thank the West Cambridge Nursery staff enough.
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Review from Pavel G (Father of Child) published on 5 April 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter is extremely happy here. The staff are helpful, friendly and above all, very professional. My daughter has developed skills like walking, using syllables to communicate and 'saying' hello/bye very early, which I think are the result of the games and activities carried out at the nursery.
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Review from Christopher L (Father of Child) published on 30 March 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
A brilliant nursery where you can see and feel the commitment of the staff to the whole school and the complete development of the children. Very happy to have my daughter here and I know my daughter is happy here too!
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Review from J F (Mother of Child) published on 17 February 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The nursery has a wonderful and caring atmosphere and it is obvious that the staff really care about the children here. They provide such a wide range of activities and encourage my two children to develop skills and interests. It's a wonderful place and I cannot recommend it enough. Thanks so much.
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Review from Olga G (Mother of Child) published on 14 November 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My baby girl joined the Ladybirds room in March 2016. She absolutely loves the nursery, her new friends and room staff. They have a lot of activities during the day and I can see that my child really enjoys her time in the nursery. Also, I feel confident that my child is well taken care of. Thank you
very much for your hard work!
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Review from Gwendolyn (Mother of Child) published on 14 October 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our son has been attending University Nursery at West Cambridge for the past month. He settled very quickly thanks in large part to the attentive staff in his room. They have focused on helping him build relationships with his classmates with the goal to help him transition to reception in a year.
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Review from L D (Mother of Child) published on 29 September 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The nursery's setting is great and the staff are very friendly. My son's adaptation went well, probably because of his key person system that I like very much - now my son loves coming to the nursery and I can see each day he is making a lot of progress there!
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Review from Alastair B (Father of Child) published on 14 June 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our two daughters love coming to nursery. The staff are excellent. The environment is first class. We are very happy with almost every aspect, from food to activities and learning tasks to management. There are two aspects that could be improved, although both are already good. 1, occasionally bookings
for holidays and bank holidays are missed - an online calendar for our children would help us to communicate dates better. 2, The outside space for the rooms might benefit from being a little larger, this is hard to achieve in the current building however.
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Review from Andrew G (Father of Child) published on 14 June 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We have had an extremely positive experience at the West Cambridge Nursery. As a parent of a child with additional needs, we so appreciate the lengths to which the nursery has gone to, to support our son and our family. Great support, great teaching, great food - great everything! We have no hesitation
in enthusiastically recommending West Cambridge Nursery.
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Review from Carol I (Mother of Child) published on 14 June 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
There are great carers for my child and other children in their class. They are very friendly, and caring and I feel very comfortable to leave my child in their care. Their service is excellent. I will recommend the nursery because of them.
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Review from Julian K (Father of Child) published on 14 June 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Awesome place. Awesome staff. My daughter says it is brilliant!
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Review from Kyle S (Mother of Child) published on 14 June 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I have had two children come through the nursery, one through caterpillar through to butterflies. Both my children have had a fabulous experience and really thrived. The staff are fantastic, warm, patient, kind, funny, full of energy and smiles (I don't know how they do it!). I feel extremely lucky
to have been able to have my children in such capable hands.
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Review from Alex T (Mother of Child) published on 19 May 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We love this nursery - our youngest daughter goes here. She is very happy here and I am really happy as well - it is never a problem to get her to go to nursery! Our older children went elsewhere and I really regret not having sent them here as well. It is a great place for children with good food and
excellent staff.
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Review from Rose T (Mother of Child) published on 13 May 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Staff very flexible very good at putting this nervous parent at ease! Child settled in quickly and is always excited when we pack her bag for nursery.
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Review from Rui W (Mother of Child) published on 1 April 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The nursery is well organised and the staff are very kind and patient to the children. The food quality is good. My son really enjoys his time in the nursery.
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Review from Ben W (Father of Child) published on 3 February 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our daughter loves the nursery and so do we! The staff are very friendly, professional and take a keen interest in the children as individuals. The staff helped our daughter to settle in very quickly indeed, and she has formed close relationships with her key workers.


They have a great variety

of activities for the children each day and our daughter is developing really well in the rich environment. They also have a varied and ever-changing menu that she enjoys.


Our daughter always looks forward to going to nursery and comes home full of joy and enthusiasm.


Thanks to all the staff at the nursery for doing such a great job.

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Review from Teresa H (Mother of Child) published on 1 February 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
When I first brought my little son to nursery I had my doubts if he wasn't too young still, seeing that he was not yet a year old. However, after seeing him thrive the way he does after only 3 months at the West Cambridge Nursery, I know I made the right decision. I love that he is so close to his practitioner,
which is made possible due to the great ratio of children to practitioner. He is learning so much and enjoys all the activities offered to him. In general, I as a mother could not wish for a better place for my little one to stay at. My son is safe and happy and I get to enjoy the huge smiles from him after a great day at the nursery.
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Current Review Score: 9.9 (9.943)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.9 (9.943) out of 10 for University Nursery at West Cambridge is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 32 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 32 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.943 for University Nursery at West Cambridge is calculated as follows: ( (365 Excellents x 5) + (16 Goods x 4) + (3 Satisfactorys x 3) ) ÷ 384 Ratings = 4.943
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for University Nursery at West Cambridge is based on 32 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 120 number of registered child places is 24, which has been reached with 32 Positive reviews. Points = 1
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

10 Child Vacancies

Posted: 13 Nov 2025

Spaces available for University and non-University families

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Awards / Recognitions (21)

Meet the Team (1)

Lesa

Lesa Clare

Job Title: Nursery Manager Joined: 2009

Lesa is the Manager of West Cambridge Day Nursery in Cambridge and has a wealth of experience, having worked in the early years sector for 21 years. Lesa has several qualifications, including an NVQ Level 3 Early Years Care and Education and has been with Childbase Partnership for 12 years.


What is your favourite feature of West Cambridge?
I love the family environment at the nursery, the warm and welcoming staff and the outstanding practice delivered throughout all of our rooms.


What are you most proud of about your nursery/team?
Being recognised as a top 20 rated nursery in East of England from DayNurseries parent reviews.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact University Nursery at West Cambridge to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. University Nursery at West Cambridge has an Enhanced Service - more info.