Ofsted has said it is not carrying out SEND (special educational needs and disability) area inspections because the disruption to education, health and care services during the coronavirus pandemic makes its impossible to reach valid judgements.

However, the inspectorate has said that in the interim period, it will conduct visits with the Care Quality Commission to understand what children and young people with SEND have experienced during the lockdown and what has worked well for them. 

Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman has said SEND area inspections will not take place in the autumn.

But she also revealed that Ofsted and the CQC are to develop a new framework to create an ongoing cycle of SEND area inspections in future.

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In a commentary published today, Ms Spielman said: “We know that area SEND inspections are important to children, young people and families because they provide valuable insights into how the SEND system is working for them.

“However, we are not doing these inspections at the moment. The current levels of disruption to education, health and care services, as well as changing expectations of local areas during the pandemic, would make it impossible for us and CQC to make fair, valid and consistent inspection judgements.

“We therefore think it is right that we do not return to area SEND inspections in the autumn, but instead focus on other ways we can help and support local areas to strengthen the SEND system in future.”

The visits Ofsted and the CQC plan to carry out next term will aim to: 

• Understand children and young people’s experience and learn from what has worked well for them in this time.
• Support local areas to prioritise and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND in the pandemic.
• Look at how best to strengthen the SEND system in future through a series of national reports.

Ofsted and the CQC have been carrying out SEND area inspections since May 2016.

Last year, a Tes investigation revealed that more than half of the first 100 authority areas to be inspected had been found to have shortcomings in SEND provision.

Under the current SEND area inspections, each authority area was due to get just one inspection and a return visit if major shortcomings were found. 

However, Ms Spielman has outlined plans for a new framework with continuous SEND area inspections in future.

Ofsted has also postponed regular school inspection until January next year but will carry out school visits next term.