New childminders ask this early on, and the answer isn't a simple yes or no. The EYFS doesn't require a contract by name, but it does require you to give parents a great deal of information, and a written contract is by far the clearest way to do it.
What the EYFS requires
The framework lists information you must make available to parents. It includes how you deliver the EYFS in your setting, your daily routines and activities, how you support children with special educational needs, the food and drink you provide, your staffing and who the child's key person is, your policies and procedures (including for children who aren't collected or who go missing) and an emergency contact number. You must also share your inspection report with the parents of children who attend regularly.
The Childcare Register adds more
If you're on the Childcare Register, you must have written policies and give parents copies. If you're only on the Early Years Register, your policies don't have to be written down, but you must be able to explain them to parents and to Ofsted.
Funded hours add more again
If you offer funded places, your local authority will expect clear, itemised information about what's free and what's optional, and a parental declaration setting out the child's funded hours and pattern. Those details need to be in writing.
Why a contract still matters
An inspector won't tick off a contract on a checklist, but they will expect you to show how parents know your fees, hours, policies and arrangements. And when something goes wrong, whether it's a fee dispute, an argument about notice or a disagreement about illness, the contract is what you both go back to. Without one it's your memory against theirs.
Having been through inspection myself, I think a good contract does more for the relationship than for compliance. The difficult conversations have already happened, calmly, before anyone is upset.
What a good contract covers
It sets out your fees and how they're worked out, payment terms, hours and booking patterns, funded hours, absence and closures, illness and medicines, safeguarding, collection, notice and ending, and how you handle complaints. Write it in plain English so families actually read it.
GoChildmind writes that contract from your answers. Have a look at the sample first if you want to see what you'd get.