Guidance

Summary of changes

Updated 11 October 2024

Applies to England

This sets out changes we have made to reflect our inspection practice. It does not include corrections or changes made to improve clarity.

October 2024

In this handbook, we have made the following substantial changes:

• added clarification that inspectors will normally review and consider complaints made about a school during their preparation, but will not investigate the circumstances of a complaint, follow up on a complaint or use complaints about the school as evidence to support a judgement

• emphasised that on day 1 leaders may be asked to reflect on what has been heard in order to clarify any factual matters, draw inspectors’ attention to any other specific matters and/or contribute to planning the timetable for the rest of the inspection

• added clarification that schools which are judged good or outstanding will normally receive a standard inspection within 3 years of their previous standard inspection

• added clarification that each term the DfE and Ofsted will agree which schools meet the criteria for having their next standard inspection brought forward

• set out the scenarios which could result in a standard inspection being brought forward, and detailed the impact of brought-forward inspections on inspection fees and the inspection cycle

• added clarification that when a boarding or residential special school’s standard inspection takes place at the same time as a material change, emergency or progress monitoring inspection of the provision, the inspections will not be aligned or integrated (though inspectors will work together to plan the inspection activities)

• added clarification that schools will normally be notified of a standard inspection on a Monday but could be notified of an additional inspection on any day. Further clarification added that when a standard inspection is deferred a school could be notified of the new inspection date on any day of the week

• set out that inspectors will inform school leadership and the Ofsted duty desk when they think it is possible that a school’s overall effectiveness will be inadequate

• set out that if an inspector reaches the conclusion that a school’s overall effectiveness is inadequate and/or a school is operating beyond its registration agreement, they will complete an early notification form

• set out that when safeguarding is likely to be judged ineffective, but all other judgements would have been good or outstanding, inspectors will consider whether leaders are capable of resolving the issues identified with safeguarding within 3 months. If they consider that this is the case, the inspection may be suspended to give the school an opportunity to resolve those issues and we will return within 3 months to complete the inspection

April 2024

Paragraph 2: clarification that, when applying the handbook, inspectors will take appropriate action to comply with Ofsted’s Equality Act duties.

Paragraph 10:  clarification regarding Ofsted’s updated complaints policy.

Paragraph 60: removed out of date reference to the regulations under which we used to charge schools a fee for their inspection.

Paragraph 101: clarifications regarding welfare support available to schools, and opportunities to provide information on and/or discuss potential equalities duties, including reasonable adjustments for individuals.

Paragraph 111: deleted class lists from the list of information that schools must make available for the start of inspection.

Paragraph 112: minor amendments to provide clarification in final bullet regarding open cases and multi-agency plans.

Paragraph 120: minor amendment to provide clarification on when inspectors should contact the duty desk to discuss the appropriate action to take when there are well-being concerns.

Paragraph 129: clarification regarding Ofsted’s policy for pausing inspections.

Paragraph 171 to 172 and 177: clarification regarding updated arrangements for publishing reports in line with Ofsted’s new complaints process.

Paragraph 176: clarification that an inspection is complete when we send the final report to the DfE.

Paragraph 180: clarification regarding updated arrangements for quality assurance in line with Ofsted’s new complaints process.

Paragraph 182 to 184: clarification regarding updated arrangements for handling concerns and complaints in line with Ofsted’s new complaints process.

Paragraph 226 and 278: clarification that staff may always be accompanied by an (rather than another) appropriate person, when speaking to inspectors.

Paragraph 272: minor revision to text about suspensions and exclusions.

Paragraph 409: reordered ‘good’ quality of education grade criteria with new sub-headings to better group similar concepts.

January 2024

Paragraph 7: clarification regarding the expectations for inspectors’ conduct during inspections.

Paragraph 17: clarification around terminology used in the handbook.

Paragraph 27: clarification regarding Ofsted’s role as an inspectorate of schools, and not of the specific individuals that work in them.

Paragraphs 21, 23, 102, 104, 136, 161, 163, 164: clarifications on involving leaders, governors and proprietor(s) in inspections, incorporating who may attend meetings including end of day meetings, how they can contribute and how inspectors will ensure leaders are kept informed on how the inspection is progressing.

Paragraphs 85 and 104: clarification on requesting a deferral.

Paragraphs 97 and 100: clarification regarding the preparatory telephone call(s) between the lead inspector and headteacher.

Paragraph 99: clarification on who can be present during the planning and educationally focused conversations.

Paragraphs 101, 106, 107, 108: updated to reflect information inspectors will request and discuss during the planning and educationally focused conversations and who may attend these conversations.

Paragraph 92: updated to reflect what inspectors will review and consider as part of their preparation.

Paragraphs 118 to 121, 146, 210, 225 to 226, 278 and 346: clarification regarding meeting with staff, pupils and parents to reflect who may be present and when and how inspection activity may be paused or adjustments made.

Paragraph 129: new section providing clarification on when pausing an inspection may be appropriate.

Paragraph 134: clarification regarding the inspection methodology being constructive, respectful and empathetic.

Paragraph 141: clarity on when inspectors may visit lessons taught by trainees.

Paragraph 165: clarification on who provisional inspection outcomes may be shared with, including people not involved in the school.

Paragraphs 170 to 171: clarification on when draft inspection reports are sent to schools and who they may be shared with.

Paragraphs 182 to 184: updated to reflect how leaders may raise concerns both during the inspection and afterwards.

Paragraph 418: clarification regarding the inadequate grade descriptors for sixth form provision.

October 2023

This summary sets out minor changes we have made to the Non-association independent school inspection handbook, including:

• providing more detail on what evidence inspectors will ask schools to provide in relation to safeguarding, to prevent unnecessary workload for schools
• clarifying that inspectors will want schools to provide details about adults living on school sites
• minor changes to take account of the Department for Education’s new exclusions and suspensions guidance

August 2023 (for September 2023 version)

We have added a new subsection on schools raising concerns. We have also made some revisions to the guidance on separation by sex.

July 2023 (for September 2023 version)

In this update, we have made changes to the safeguarding section and added new sections on conduct during inspections and concurrent inspections of schools with the same proprietor.

We have added new subsections on attendance, behaviour and capacity to improve.

We have provided more information about the inspection process, including:

• the frequency of inspection
• when it is appropriate for education and social care inspectors to share evidence in inspections of boarding and residential special schools, and schools registered as children’s homes
• information about staff members expressing their views freely to inspectors
• what inspectors will focus on in evaluating personal development
• clarification that the lead inspector will follow up any discrepancies about the proprietor’s identity that arose during their telephone calls

We have made some revisions to the guidance on ‘separation by sex, temporary part-time timetables, unlawful suspensions and off-rolling.

We have also removed any guidance in part 4 (Inspecting against the independent school standards and other requirements), which is replicated in the DfE’s guidance about the independent school standards.

July 2022

Paragraph 3: Parts 2 and 3 of the handbook have been renamed to:

• Part 2. Explanation of our judgements
• Part 3. Grade descriptors (previously the evaluation schedule and applying the EIF in different contexts).

Paragraph 7 to 11: ‘Privacy notice’ heading renamed ‘Gathering personal information on inspection’. Information in this section has been updated to focus on inspectors’ powers to gather, use and store evidence.

Paragraph 12: New paragraph added to explain that Ofsted may carry out research as part of our inspection activities.

Paragraph 75: New paragraph on inspections of schools that appear to no longer be operating.

Paragraphs 76 to 82: Updated information on deferral and cancellation requests.

Part 1 (paragraph 83): Information in this section has been updated.

Paragraph 88 to 98: Information in this section has been re-structured and updated.

Paragraph 99: Updates to the information schools must provide by the start of the inspection and when inspectors arrive at the school.

Paragraph 108: Information in this section has been re-structured and updated.

Paragraph 131 to 133: New section added setting out how inspectors consider complaints as part of an inspection.

Paragraphs 136 to 142: Updated section on inspecting schools with no pupils on roll.

Paragraph 167 onwards: Information in this section has been re-structured and updated.

Paragraph 273: New paragraph clarifies impact of any unmet standards on the leadership and management judgement.

In the good grade descriptors for ‘quality of education’, we have removed the previous transitional arrangements and instead added a new grade descriptor to make it clear that we understand schools will change their curriculum and so some aspects will be more developed than others.

February 2022

Footnote 2, footnote 3 and paragraphs 229 to 231: clarification about transitional arrangements.

Paragraphs 59, 236, 253 and 313 to 315: updated to clarify Ofsted’s approach to harmful sexual behaviour and allegations of sexual harassment, abuse or violence.

Paragraphs 98, 101 and 103: revised to reflect that we will inform (rather than consult) the Department for Education if we grant a deferral.

Paragraph 105 to 109: relocated ‘Seeking the views of registered parents and other stakeholders’ to before ‘Pupils and staff questionnaire’ for better sequencing.

Paragraph 127 to 128 and 243: replaced ‘newly qualified teachers’ with ‘early career teachers’.

Paragraph 183: clarified how inspectors will gather evidence for the quality of education judgement in inspections of schools with specialist provision.

Paragraph 369: removed reference to ‘curriculum plans’.

Paragraph 386 to 394: changes to reflect Ofsted’s policy on inspecting boarding and residential special schools and schools registered as children’s homes.

October 1 2021

Added separate guidance on aligned inspections of schools with boarding or residential provision from October 2021. This temporarily replaces the guidance in paragraphs 380 to 390 of the independent schools inspection handbook.

September 2021

Removed previous version of the handbook. The September handbook is now in force.

June 2021 (for September 2021 version)

This section outlines changes to inspection practice. This does not include corrections or changes made to improve clarity in how the framework is written.

Paragraphs 10 to 31: updated the ‘Inspection and the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic’ section to reflect that this now covers the transitional period, and made other minor changes for clarity.

Paragraphs 32 to 38: changes to reflect the current situation on EYFS requirements.

Paragraph 44: added to explain the impact of the pandemic on the inspection cycle.

Paragraphs 61 and 62: updated to clarify that inspection fees will be charged unless a deferral is granted in line with our deferral policy prior to the start of on-site inspection activity, or – in the case of pre-registration inspections – unless the school withdraws their application prior to being notified that an inspection will take place.

Paragraph 207: clarified that inspectors will take transitional provision into account.

Paragraph 220: clarified that nationally published data does not include teacher or centre assessed grades.

Quality of education – implementation ‘Good’ grade descriptor: clarification that leaders provide effective support including for those teaching outside their expertise. Clarification on those at the early stage of reading.

Paragraphs 305 to 309: added new section codifying Ofsted’s position on harmful sexual behaviour.

Leadership and management – ‘Good’ grade descriptor: clarification that vision and proactive management of staff needs to be maintained beyond recovery from the pandemic.

Paragraphs 359 to 362: clarified how settings with an EYFS exemption are inspected in teaching early reading.

April 2021

Changes and additions have been made throughout the handbook in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A new section on ‘Inspection during the COVID-19 pandemic’ has been included, covering how we will reflect the COVID-19 context and the disruption it has caused to all education providers when making judgements.

Another new section covers ‘Disapplication and modifications of the early years foundation stage’ to support early years providers and schools during the pandemic.

A new section sets out scenarios in which the DfE may decide to bring forward a school’s next standard inspection, following an additional inspection, to update the school’s graded judgements.

Arrangements and timescales for publishing reports and handling concerns and complaints have been updated.

Sections on ‘Relationships and sex education’ and ‘Inspecting teaching of the protected characteristics’ have been updated to reflect revised expectations in light of disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The ‘Safeguarding’ section has been updated to clarify the impact on judgements if inspectors are prevented from talking to pupils on inspection. It also now clarifies that if the safeguarding requirements of the independent school standards are judged to be not met, safeguarding will be judged ineffective.

We have removed the criterion relating to compliance with the independent school standards (ISS) from the overall effectiveness grade descriptors. Compliance with the ISS impacts the leadership and management judgement, because it is the proprietor’s responsibility to comply with the standards. There is no change to the leadership and management judgement criteria.