school teacher teaching his students in a high school

Consultation on new Ofsted improvements

Ofsted has initiated a comprehensive consultation, inviting opinions from parents, carers, professionals, and learners on a new method for inspecting and reporting on education providers, starting this autumn.

This consultation, which seeks to enhance trust and collaboration among professionals while prioritising the interests of parents and children, represents a significant evolution in Ofsted's inspection approach.

Over the past year, Ofsted has implemented several changes to support the wellbeing of education providers. However, the recent "Big Listen" feedback highlighted the need for further reforms. The new proposals focus on early years settings, state-funded schools, non-association independent schools, further education and skills providers, and initial teacher education (ITE) providers.

"The Big Listen" revealed a consensus among parents, carers, and professionals that the overall effectiveness grade should be eliminated in favour of a more nuanced view of providers' strengths and areas for improvement. Parents and carers preferred clear assessments across a broader range of categories, while professionals leaned towards narrative performance descriptions.

 

To reconcile these preferences, Ofsted proposes new report cards featuring a colour-coded 5-point grading scale. This scale will provide at-a-glance evaluations of various aspects of a provider's performance, supported by concise summaries of inspectors' findings. Notably, an overall effectiveness grade will no longer be assigned.

The new 5-point scale ranges from "causing concern" to "exemplary," enabling inspectors to acknowledge successes, assure parents of appropriate actions where improvements are needed, and highlight areas requiring urgent attention. This approach aims to reduce staff pressure by presenting a balanced view of practice across multiple areas, rather than a single overall grade.

Under the new proposals, evaluation areas will vary slightly by education phase but will consistently include a focus on inclusion. Inspectors will assess how well providers support vulnerable and disadvantaged children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Ofsted also plans to incorporate more contextual data in inspections and reports, such as learner characteristics, performance outcomes, absence and attendance figures, and local area demographics. This data will help inspectors understand leaders' circumstances and evaluate their work in context.

Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, commented:

“Our mission is to raise standards and improve the lives of children, particularly the most disadvantaged. Today’s proposals for a new Ofsted report card and a new way of inspecting are designed to do just that. 

“The report card will replace the simplistic overall judgement with a suite of grades, giving parents much more detail and better identifying the strengths and areas for improvement for a school, early years or further education provider.  

“Our new top ‘exemplary’ grade will help raise standards, identifying world-class practice that should be shared with the rest of the country. And by quickly returning to monitor schools that have areas for improvement, we will ensure timely action is taken to raise standards. 

“We also hope that this more balanced, fairer approach will reduce the pressure on professionals working in education, as well as giving them a much clearer understanding of what we will be considering on inspection.”

The consultation proposes tailoring the inspection process to the specific phase and type of provider, with new inspection "toolkits" listing the standards each provider type will be evaluated against. These toolkits are designed to drive consistency and provide clarity on expected standards and improvement requirements.

Starting in autumn 2025, Ofsted will no longer conduct ungraded inspections of state-funded schools. Every school will be aware that its next routine inspection will be a full, graded one. Additionally, schools identified as needing improvement will receive monitoring calls and visits to ensure timely action is taken to raise standards.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks, from 3 February to 28 April 2025. In addition to an online survey, Ofsted will conduct focus groups during this period. Formal pilots of the new inspection approach and further user testing of report cards will also be carried out to refine the proposals.

Ofsted will publish a report on the consultation outcome in the summer, incorporating all feedback and challenges received. The final agreed reforms will undergo further pilot testing across all education remits before formal implementation from autumn 2025. Changes to children's social care inspections will follow in 2026.

 

Image credit: iStock

Video credit: Ofsted

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