Evaluation area
The six substantive areas of activity inspected by Ofsted – in primary and secondary settings; these are inclusion, curriculum and teaching, achievement, attendance and behaviour, personal development and wellbeing, and leadership and governance, plus safeguarding and, where applicable, early years or sixth form provision.
Report card
The tabular, colour-coded summary that outlines (in red, amber, two shades of green, and blue) the outcomes from the inspection of each evaluation area.
Inspection report
The wider narrative provided for each evaluation area, justifying the judgement given. This sits underneath the report card summary.
Standards or judgements
The five judgements (or “Standards”) summarised on the report card and applied distinctly to each evaluation area, which in primary and secondary settings are Urgent Improvement, Needs Attention, Expected Standard, Strong Standard, and Exceptional.
Toolkit
The guidance document for practitioners on the inspection of each Evaluation Area, with grading criteria - akin to a mark scheme for an exam paper, for the achievement of each judgement (or ‘Standard’), publicly available and designed to take the mystery out of inspection by setting out what inspectors will look for.
Operating guide
The guidance document for inspectors (but available to all) that promises “clear instructions for inspectors on how to apply the methodology and inspection activities available to them and guidance on when to contact the (HMI- staffed) duty desk”. (From time-to-time during an inspection, the inspector may call the duty desk to seek clarity on how they might respond to a particular situation).
Secure fit
In deciding where a school’s performance sits (in terms of the Standards) for a particular Evaluation Area, the inspectors will seek to establish a “Secure Fit.” This means requiring a school to achieve each of the criteria set out in the Toolkit at the Standard concerned. The concept of Secure Fit has replaced that of the more approximate concept of “Best Fit”. This switch is designed to clarify the distinction between the different Standards and to bring greater consistency. However, achieving a particular Standard is also likely to be more demanding and may undermine the aim of individual inspectors to bring nuance to the judgements that they make.
Nominee
The “Nominee” is a new role in the inspection process and refers to a member of (usually) the senior team nominated to be a contact between the inspector(s) and the school during the process of the inspection. Schools are not required to have a Nominee, but having one is likely to share some of the load that the Head has traditionally carried, and it offers the prospect of a second set of eyes on the conduct of the inspection. Training has been promised for those who take on the role of Nominee and schools would be wise to take this up.
HMI
HMIs are experienced and senior inspectors directly employed by Ofsted. In a break from previous practice, all inspections will now be HMI-led, with Associate Inspectors (those qualified to inspect but who are not HMIs and usually not directly employed by Ofsted) playing a supporting role.
School context
A school’s context refers to those factors with which a school contends on a day-to-day basis because of the nature of its intake and the locality in which it is based, as articulated by the school and evident in data and other contextual information.
Inclusion
While the framework does not offer a definition of inclusion as such, inspectors are particularly interested in those learners who might be defined as ‘vulnerable’. This will mean disadvantaged learners, especially those on Free School Meals, those in receipt of Pupil Premium support for some other reason, those for whom English is not a first language, those with SEND (and especially those who have an EHCP) and those who are care-experienced or who have had some interaction with the care system.
Importantly, inclusion will be inspected both as a discrete Evaluation Area and as an element within each Evaluation Area.
Foundational knowledge
Foundational knowledge refers to that knowledge that the inspectorate considers to be vital in enabling learners to access the wider curriculum, notably English and Mathematics and the establishment of sufficient proficiency in these subjects.
Notification call
The call in which the school is notified of the inspection, the morning of the day before the inspection. Previously this was a purely administrative call. It will now involve the HMI leading the inspection and will focus on establishing the context of the school, ahead of the Planning Call that afternoon.
Planning call
The (usually video) call in which the HMI leading the inspection, the Head, the Nominee and other senior leaders (if the school so wishes) plan the schedule for the inspection, conducted on the afternoon of the day in which the school has been informed of the inspection through the notification call.
Reflection meeting
The regular meetings between the Head and the HMI leading the inspection – one of these is scheduled to take place at lunchtime on the first day, at the close of the first day, at the beginning of the second day and at lunchtime on the second day. These have always taken place but the addition of an additional inspector to at least one day of a two-day inspection is designed to create the space to hold more of these meetings.
Grading meeting
The end of inspection meeting at which the Head and Nominee will be notified of the grades awarded for each Evaluation Area.
Feedback meeting
The immediate post-inspection meeting in which the HMI leading the inspection will provide feedback on the inspection as a whole to the Head, Senior Leaders, the Chair and any other members of the Governing Board who wish to be present.
Phase
Usually defined in age related terms (early years, primary, secondary or further education) but also applying to specialist and alternative provision.
Setting
A context in which education takes place and that Ofsted inspect, such as a childcare provider, school or college or any other education or training organisation that Ofsted inspects.
Deep dive
The in-depth conversations that inspectors hold with middle and senior leaders on specific areas of activity.
Deep dives are no longer prominent as part of the formal methodology for assessing curriculum areas. However, they are still likely to be used in discussions with senior leaders, and others involved in leading on a key aspect of practice in a designated evaluation area. So, the term may have disappeared, but the practice is unlikely to.
Learning walk
The walks through the school that inspectors will undertake, sometimes accompanied by senior leaders and usually focused on particular Evaluation Areas, in seeking to gather evidence and build their knowledge of the school. Where the previous framework sought to get much of this information through curriculum and subject focused “Deep Dives,” the new framework places the emphasis on gaining this information through Learning Walks.
Case sampling
The way in which inspectors will seek to understand the educational experience of learners in particular cohorts (where the focus is likely to be on disadvantaged and vulnerable cohorts), often by identifying learners and tracking their experience across different areas of the curriculum and different areas of school life. This will not involve schools in any pre-selection of learners or their work.
Category of concern
A status accorded to a school when practise, in any evaluation area, is judged as needing ‘Urgent Improvement’. There are two categories of concern (‘Requires Significant Improvement - previously ‘Serious Weaknesses’ - and ‘Special Measures’).