Next September, a new inspection framework will be introduced with a report card system.
Tes details what a new-look Ofsted inspection will involve:
How will Ofsted inspections change this year?
Although single-word overall judgements have been scrapped, the inspectorate will still operate a system of graded and ungraded inspections for this academic year.
When inspections resume, schools that receive a graded (Section 5) inspection will still be given grades for the four current sub-judgements, but will not receive an overall grade.
The four sub-judgements are leadership and management, quality of education, personal development and behaviour and attitudes.
On these, Ofsted makes one of four inspection judgements: “outstanding”, “good”, “requires improvement” and “inadequate”.
Ofsted is required to inspect schools covered by Section 5 at prescribed intervals.
The law usually requires the maximum interval between inspections to be no more than five school years from the end of the school year in which the last relevant inspection took place.
However, if a school’s most recent graded or ungraded inspection was before 4 May 2021, the legal maximum for that school will, instead, be up to seven years.
Under the existing system, schools previously judged to be either “good” or “outstanding” overall will receive an “ungraded” or “Section 8” inspection (more on ungraded inspections below).
If there is evidence that the school has done something to improve on or decline from that previous judgement, it will receive a “graded” or “Section 5” inspection within one to two years of the ungraded inspection.
Schools graded as “requires improvement” will receive a subsequent Section 5 within 30 months of the last inspection.
New schools will usually be inspected within the first three years after opening.
How much notice will schools get before an Ofsted visit?
Previously, Ofsted would notify a school of an inspection by phone between 9:30am and 2pm on the day before it plans to inspect.
From September 2024, however, Ofsted will only ever notify schools on a Monday, with the inspection taking place on the Tuesday and Wednesday of that week.
How long will an Ofsted inspection take?
Normally an Ofsted inspection will last for two days. Inspections of some smaller “good” or “outstanding” primary schools may only last for one day.
After informing the school of a pending inspection, the lead inspector will talk to the headteacher over the phone to discuss the practical elements of the inspection and to have an “educationally focused conversation”, which can last over 90 minutes.
Therefore a Section 5 (or graded) Ofsted inspection is essentially the standard graded inspection that all state schools receive.
Previously, these inspections would have resulted in the school receiving an overall grade (“outstanding”, “good”, “requires improvement” or “inadequate”). From September, the school will receive these grades across the four sub-judgement areas, but with no overall effectiveness grade.
What is an ungraded (Section 8) Ofsted inspection?
A Section 8 (or ungraded) inspection can be one of three things:
An inspection for an “outstanding” or “good” school to ensure everything is in order and it should retain its current grade.
An inspection directly ordered by the secretary of state.
An urgent inspection if something was brought to Ofsted’s attention and it decided it was of note enough to inspect.
Under the current system, a Section 8 inspection happens every four years for a school that has been judged “outstanding” or “good”, to make sure that it retains this grade.
Section 8 also covers an “urgent inspection” (if something has been brought to Ofsted’s attention) and by direct order of the secretary of state.
What type of inspections will ‘outstanding’-rated schools receive?
Schools that were given Ofsted’s top rating of “outstanding” were made exempt from routine inspection for most of the last decade.
This exemption was lifted and these schools were added to Ofsted’s regular inspection schedule when its visits resumed after the Covid-19 pandemic in September 2021.
Ofsted said that if an “outstanding”-rated school was last inspected before September 2015, then its next inspection would be a Section 5. If its last inspection was after this then its next inspection would be a Section 8.
Which schools will Ofsted inspect?
Section 5 outlines that it is the duty of the chief inspector to inspect all schools that it applies to, this includes:
Academy schools and alternative provision academies
City technology colleges
City colleges for the technology of the arts
Special schools that are not community or foundation special schools but are for the time being approved by the secretary of state under section 342 of the Education Act 1996 (c.56) (approval of special schools)
Exceptions to this list include a school that is closing (any of the previously mentioned schools which have been approved for closure) and schools where the chief inspector has decided that an inspection would serve “no useful purpose”.
What is a subject deep dive?
A Section 5 inspection must evaluate the quality of education - one of the key sub-judgements introduced in 2019.
The inspector does this in part by focusing on the implementation, intent and impact of the curriculum. This includes deep dives into a number of specific subjects.
This will generally involve:
Talking to leaders about the curriculum
Doing joint visits to lessons (with the headteacher, subject leaders and/or other leaders)
Looking at pupils’ work
Talking to and observing pupils
Having discussions with teachers
Inspectors will generally conduct four or five deep dives during a Section 5 inspection.
From September, deep dives will not be carried out as part of Section 8 inspections.
How long after an Ofsted inspection will the report be published?
After an inspection is finished, Ofsted says, in most circumstances, it will send a draft report to the school within 18 working days of the end of the inspection.
The school will have five working days to comment on the draft report. It can highlight minor points relating to the clarity and factual accuracy of the report, or it can submit a formal complaint seeking a review of the inspection process.
If it only submits minor points of clarity or factual accuracy, Ofsted will respond to these points when it shares a final report - normally within 30 working days of the end of the inspection.
