This paper explores the discourse on nursery education in Great Britain. The provision of nursery education in the 1990s is in a vulnerable position, due to the changing nature of the family in society and to the lack of strong justification for its existence in the face of government intervention. A schism exists concerning the need for development and implementation of a comprehensive, coherent policy concerning preschool education. A major tension exists concerning the aims and purposes of provision for young children outside their homes. Program quality is a key concern. The criteria by which quality is measured are determined by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) and applied cyclically to schools through a planned program of inspections. This paper is divided into the following sections: (1) "The Impact of Political Interest on Early Childhood Provision," detailing the history of political conflict over the issue of nursery education provision; (2) "Nursery Education: Beyond the '90s"; (3) "Conflicts within the Current Discourse," uncovering the fact that the key question concerning the pedagogy of nursery education and what is appropriate curriculum is still under debate; (4) "The Cultural Weaknesses of Early Childhood Practice in Britain"; (5) "The Early Years Curriculum"; (6) "OFSTED Inspections of Early Years Provision: Anatomy of an OFSTED Inspection"; (7) "A Framework for Reporting on the Educational Value of Early Provision" (8) "OFSTED Inspection Reports and the Early Years: A Preliminary Analysis"; (9) "Curricular Provision"; (10)"Quality of Teaching and Learning"; (11) "The Emergent Model"; and (12) "The Future," including a discussion of how the notion of "play" has been misunderstood. Contains 56 references. (BGC)