The way that Ofsted inspects schools is set to undergo a series of important changes.

The inspectorate has already announced a major shake-up of its inspections and schools could see more change from 2024, when Sir Martyn Oliver will become the next chief inspector and a new government could be in power.

Here is everything you need to know about how and why Ofsted school inspections are changing.

What has triggered school inspection changes?

The catalyst for many of the latest changes to Ofsted’s school inspections was the death of headteacher Ruth Perry and the reaction that followed from the school sector.

Her family said she took her own life after an Ofsted inspection, which subsequently downgraded her school’s rating from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

Her death sparked national outrage and led to calls for Ofsted inspection to be paused or reformed.

There have also been calls for Ofsted’s use of single-word judgements to be scrapped or reviewed by the Association of School and College Leaders and the Confederation of School Trusts, respectively.

How is school inspection changing?

One of the main concerns that followed Ruth Perry’s death was that some schools were being rated as “inadequate” on safeguarding failings when other aspects of the provision were judged to be “good”.

If Ofsted finds a school’s safeguarding to be ineffective, it will be rated as “inadequate” overall.

To address these concerns, Ofsted said that when a school fails because of safeguarding issues alone, the inspectorate will now follow up with a monitoring visit within three months to provide an opportunity for regrading where issues have been addressed.

Are Ofsted inspection reports changing?

The shake-up announced by Ofsted earlier this year did not include any fundamental changes to inspection reports.

However, Ofsted has said that it is depersonalising the language it uses about areas of “weakness” in its write-ups of school judgements.

Ofsted also said it is making clear that it is up to a headteacher to decide which colleagues, or others, they share their inspection outcome with - being aware that judgements are provisional until the report is finalised.

Will schools know when an inspection is likely?

Also announced this year, Ofsted will provide schools with more of an insight into when an inspection is likely to take place.

Normally, a school judged “outstanding” or “good” will be inspected within the four academic years following its last inspection. Schools judged as “requires improvement” or “inadequate” will usually be inspected within two and a half years.

However, Ofsted has now produced a rough guide to when a school’s next inspection will take place.

Schools will still get one day’s notice, but the watchdog hopes its guide gives them more clarity about the year they are likely to be inspected. This will be particularly helpful for “outstanding”-rated schools that have been exempt from inspection for many years.

How will Ofsted complaints handling change?

Ofsted carried out a formal consultation on changes to the complaints system, which is yet to be implemented.

It plans to change its three-step system to a process that would allow schools to complain formally, more quickly and to an independent adjudicator. Schools would also be able to raise immediate concerns to a separate senior Ofsted inspector.

This consultation follows an admission from chief inspector Amanda Spielman that its current system was not satisfying schools.

Will Sir Martyn make changes to the inspection framework?

Sir Martyn Oliver, chief executive of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, was chosen by the government to replace Amanda Spielman as chief inspector. His appointment has been backed by the Commons Education Select Committee, with his five-year term starting in January 2024.

Sir Martyn was a high-profile critic of the current Ofsted framework when it first launched. Under Spielman, Ofsted launched a curriculum-focused education inspection framework to inspect schools, which gave less weight to exam and test results.

Sir Martyn was one of a number of trust chief executives who raised concern about the impact of the framework on schools serving deprived areas who were focused on academic results. He raised a particular concern that Ofsted was penalising schools running three-year GCSEs.

When asked about this criticism by MPs, he struck a diplomatic tone and said Spielman should be ”hugely congratulated for forcing the substance of education front and centre” with the framework she introduced. He has also said he does not think the sector needs a new framework.

What are Labour’s plans for Ofsted?

Changes at Ofsted may not be driven solely from within the institution.

If a Labour government takes over at the next general election, the party has promised to consult on scrapping single-word Ofsted judgements and replacing them with a scorecard.

Labour also plans to introduce a new annual review of school safeguarding and wants to introduce inspections of multi-academy trusts, which Ofsted currently does not have the power to do.