Ofsted and school inspection changes

Key changes to school inspection

The removal of ‘one word’ judgements  

From September 2024, schools undergoing ‘graded’ (Section 5) inspections will receive a grade for each of the main judgement areas:

• quality of education; 
• behaviour and attitudes; 
• personal development; 
• leadership and management 

Schools with early years and/or sixth-form provision will also receive a grade for this aspect.  

Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will still be on schools’ inspection reports and Ofsted’s website. 

A Monday pre-inspection phone call  

Schools will be notified of inspection from 9.30am on a Monday, with inspections starting the following day, rather than waiting until Wednesday afternoon for notification of an inspection that week – a huge step forward in alleviating  pressure and anxiety.

Exceptions: 

• An urgent or monitoring inspection may be notified on any day. 
• If deferred, a new inspection date can be notified on any day of the week. 
• In weeks that include a bank holiday, Ofsted may give notice of an inspection on the Tuesday of that week. 

Ofsted have said this new policy will be evaluated at the end of year. 

New internal consistency reviews  

Ofsted will carry out ‘consistency reviews’ of inspection findings, intended to address concerns about the variability of inspections, including inspector’s knowledge and expertise in the areas they are judging.

These will be carried out by the Deputy Chief Operating Officer (Delivery) and National Director.  

No more ‘deep dives’ for ungraded inspections  

Ofsted will no longer carry out ‘deep dives’ for ungraded inspections. An ungraded inspection is an inspection that does not result in individual graded judgements, but determines whether the school has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.  

Deep dives will instead be replaced by ‘focus areas’ (see below.) Deep dives will continue for graded inspections.  

More flexible ungraded inspections 

With the removal of deep dives during ungraded inspections, school leaders will have more opportunities to have discussions with the inspector about where they have improved and where they still have work to do. 

The call before inspection will be used to agree areas of focus.  These will include the quality of education across a group of subjects and one or two other areas of focus such as personal development, behaviour or attendance. 

Other examples of focus areas and more information  can be found in Ofsted’s blog.  

Areas of focus will allow inspectors to gather evidence with greater flexibility and in a way that is right for the school’s context. Ofsted have said this will mean more time for ‘richer conversations’ with leaders about what their school in doing.   

A ‘suspend and return policy’ for safeguarding 

Ofsted has altered the way it inspects schools if there were concerns regarding safeguarding. A new ‘suspend and return’ policy for graded inspections enables an inspection to be suspended to allow a school to resolve issues with safeguarding, where that is the only issue in the school and other areas of the inspection framework are judged as Good or Outstanding.  

This policy will only be enacted if inspectors consider the school could improve the safeguarding issues within 3 months.  Ofsted will then return to re-inspect within 3 months and the inspection will not be classified as concluded until Ofsted return.  

The new suspend and return policy would not apply in the following contexts:  

• where inspectors do not believe there is a "realistic prospect" that leaders can resolve the safeguarding issues. In this instance, the inspection will conclude and the school will be judged to have a serious weakness. 
• where one or more other judgements would be graded as Requires Improvement or Inadequate. In this instance, the inspection will conclude and note that safeguarding is also ineffective. 

New criteria for assessing interventions  

Ofsted will now place a school in a “category of concern” following graded inspection if any “key judgment” is inadequate and/or if safeguarding is considered ineffective. Inspectors will then decide if the school has ‘serious weakness’ or requires ‘special measures.’  

Under current legislation, the Education Secretary has a duty to make an academy order in respect of local authority-maintained schools placed into one of these categories. However, it is not yet clear what the current government’s approach is and whether they will pursue the forced academisation of all maintained schools in this position.  

NEU on academisation

Clearer guidance on the requirements for the Single Central Record (SCR) requirements  

Ofsted have provided greater clarity about the SCR requirements and what inspectors will check during an inspection.

Schools are required to maintain the SCR in according with the requirements of statutory guidance. Ofsted have no ‘additional or separate expectations’ beyond the statutory guidance and have outlined what inspectors will not require schools to do in relation to the SCR. 

A new complaints process  

Ofsted will introduce ‘complaints panels’ as part of their complaints processes, to include external sector representatives.  The panels will review whether Ofsted have handled a sample of complaints fairly and in line with their policy.  Other changes include: 

• the opportunity for complainants to talk to the investigating officer so that the investigating officer fully understands the concerns being raised 
• an earlier opportunity for complainants to appeal to the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted (ICASO) when they are dissatisfied with Ofsted’s complaints investigation. 

Further changes to complaints procedures will be made with the setting up of a new ‘hub’ for complaints investigations (see below.) 

New processes to support wellbeing  

Ofsted have introduced: 

• A new national team for inspectors and schools to help with any well-being concerns during inspection.   
• New guidance to allow inspectors to pause an inspection, including where they have concerns about the well-being of a leader or staff member. Pausing an inspection refers to when an inspection or visit that has already started is paused (and so inspectors will leave if they are on site) and will resume at a date or time beyond the originally scheduled inspection days.  
• Mental health training for inspectors (started in January 2024, but which they have said they will build upon.) 

They have also committed to setting up a ‘inspection welfare, support and guidance hub’. This will offer inspectors and schools information and other support during inspections.  

Further changes from 2025 

A revised Education Inspection Framework (EIF) 

Ofsted will be changing the EIF, with the new framework coming into place for next academic year.  Some elements of the EIF are likely to stay the same, including the current curriculum focus.  Other changes proposed include designing a framework that:  

• is appropriate to the school phase and type (such as primary or special school)  
• Make the inspection process more collaborative and take into account the context that a school is working in 
• Introduce rubrics to guide leaders on what we expect from a high-quality school. Rubrics will ‘offer clear criteria for inspections and can support leaders to self-evaluate their practice.’   
• Looks at inclusion and the experiences and outcomes of disadvantaged or ‘vulnerable’ children, including those with SEND.  

They will consult on the reformed framework later in the academic year.  

The introduction of a Report Card 

Ofsted have said that they will introduce report cards that will:  

• Show what a school is doing well and what the areas for improvement are, allowing for nuance and variation. 
• Increase the focus and scrutiny on how providers are meeting the needs of children and young people with vulnerabilities such as socio-economic disadvantage and SEND. 
• Improve the way they describe how schools are performing, removing unnecessarily negative terminology like ‘inadequate’. They will instead focus on how schools can be better in the context they are working in.  
• Have a separate safeguarding criterion in the new report cards. This will be distinct from leadership and management, to emphasise that all members of staff should be proactive about safeguarding.  

The inspection of MATs  

Ofsted have said they will work with Government on changes to legislation to allow them to inspect MATs.   They have said that ‘we strongly believe this should be expanded to cover all school groups, so we can inspect the quality of groups and chains of state-funded schools (MATs and local authorities) and independent schools at the level of the responsible body. This would help to improve standards across the system.’ 

Annual safeguarding, attendance and off rolling reviews 

Ofsted is working with the Government to introduce a new annual safeguarding review. The review will look at how schools meet their duties around safeguarding as well as what schools are doing to increase attendance and clamp down on off-rolling.