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Guidance

Area SEND inspections: information about ongoing inspections

Guides for parents, carers, children and young people about inspections of local services for children and young people with SEND.

Updates to this page

From:
Ofsted and Care Quality Commission
Published:
9 June 2016
Last updated:
2 November 2026
Show all updates

  1. Added inspection dates and survey details for Hampshire Local Area Partnership, Somerset Local Area Partnership, Barnet Local Area Partnership and Gateshead Local Area Partnership.

  2. Added inspection dates and survey details for Wigan Local Area Partnership.

  3. Added inspection dates and survey details for Devon Local Area Partnership.

  4. Added inspection dates and survey details for Lambeth Local Area Partnership and Croydon Local Area Partnership.

  5. Added inspection dates and survey details for Surrey Local Area Partnership.

  6. Added inspection dates and survey details for Leicestershire Local Area Partnership.

  7. Added inspection dates and survey details for Bromley Local Area Partnership and Sandwell Local Area Partnership.

  8. Added inspection dates and survey details for Salford Local Area Partnership and Newcastle upon Tyne Local Area Partnership.

  9. Added inspection dates and survey details for Kent Local Area Partnership and Solihull Local Area Partnership.

  10. Added inspection dates and survey details for Knowsley Local Area Partnership.

  11. Added inspection dates and survey details for Enfield Local Area Partnership.

  12. Added inspection dates and survey details for Kingston upon Thames Local Area Partnership.

  13. Added inspection dates and survey details for Bath and North East Somerset Local Area Partnership and Southend-on-Sea Local Area Partnership.

  14. Added inspection dates and survey details for Stockton-on-Tees Local Area Partnership.

  15. Added inspection dates and survey details for Windsor and Maidenhead Local Area Partnership.

  16. Added inspection dates and survey details for Leeds Local Area Partnership.

  17. Added inspection dates and survey details for Warwickshire Local Area Partnership.

  18. Added inspection dates and survey details for Cornwall Local Area Partnership.

  19. Added inspection dates and survey details for Calderdale Local Area Partnership.

  20. Added inspection dates and survey details for Sefton Local Area Partnership.

  21. Added inspection dates and survey details for Islington Local Area Partnership and Northumberland Local Area Partnership.

  22. Added inspection dates and survey details for Hammersmith and Fulham Local Area Partnership, Barnsley Local Area Partnership, and St Helens Local Area Partnership.

  23. Added inspection dates and survey details for Sutton Local Area Partnership and Wokingham Local Area Partnership.

  24. Added inspection dates and survey details for Essex Local Area Partnership.

  25. Added inspection dates and survey details for Blackburn with Darwen Local Area Partnership.

  26. Added inspection dates and survey details for Thurrock and Walsall Local Area Partnerships.

  27. Added inspection dates and survey details for Buckinghamshire Local Area Partnership.

  28. Added inspection dates and survey details for Cheshire West and Chester Local Area Partnership, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Local Area Partnership, Hackney Local Area Partnership and Sunderland Local Area Partnership.

  29. Added inspection dates and survey details for City of London Local Area Partnership.

  30. Added inspection dates and survey details for Leicester Local Area Partnership.

  31. Added inspection dates and survey details for London Borough of Ealing Local Area Partnership and East Riding of Yorkshire Local Area Partnership.

  32. Added inspection dates and survey details for South Gloucestershire Local Area Partnership.

  33. Added inspection dates and survey details for Slough and Cumberland Local Area Partnerships.

  34. Added inspection dates and survey details for Birmingham and Tower Hamlets Local Area Partnerships.

  35. Added information about what happens during an area SEND monitoring inspection in the 'Area SEND inspections: information for parents and carers' HTML document.

  36. Added inspection dates and survey details for Kirklees Local Area Partnership.

  37. Added inspection dates and survey details for Tameside Local Area Partnership.

  38. Added inspection dates and survey details for Redbridge Local Area Partnership.

  39. Added inspection dates and survey details for Torbay Local Area Partnership.

  40. Added inspection dates and survey details for Sheffield Local Area Partnership.

  41. Added inspection dates and survey details for Lincolnshire Local Area Partnership.

  42. Added inspection dates and survey details for Waltham Forest Local Area Partnership.

  43. Added inspection dates and survey details for Bracknell Forest Local Area Partnership and Westmorland and Furness Local Area Partnership.

  44. Added inspection dates and survey details for Cambridgeshire, Brent and Wirral Local Area Partnerships.

  45. Added inspection dates and survey details for Dudley Local Area Partnership.

  46. Added inspection dates and survey details for Lancashire Local Area Partnership.

  47. Added inspection dates and survey details for Herefordshire Local Area Partnership.

  48. Added inspection dates and survey details for Darlington Local Area Partnership.

  49. Added inspection dates and survey details for Bedford Local Area Partnership and East Sussex Local Area Partnership.

  50. Added inspection dates and survey details for Hounslow Local Area Partnership.

  51. Added inspection dates and survey details for Wiltshire Local Area Partnership.

  52. Added inspection dates and survey details for Newham Local Area Partnership.

  53. Added inspection dates and survey details for Rotherham Local Area Partnership.

  54. Added inspection dates and survey details for Lewisham Local Area Partnership.

  55. Added inspection dates and survey details for Derbyshire Local Area Partnership.

  56. Added inspection dates and survey details for Barking and Dagenham Local Area Partnership.

  57. Added inspection dates and survey details for Durham Local Area Partnership.

  58. Added inspection dates and survey details for Bolton Local Area Partnership.

  59. Added inspection dates and survey details for Blackpool Local Area Partnership.

  60. Added inspection dates and survey details for Southampton Local Area Partnership.

  61. Added inspection dates and survey details for North Yorkshire Local Area Partnership and Hillingdon Local Area Partnership.

  62. Added inspection dates and survey details for Worcestershire Local Area Partnership.

  63. Added inspection dates and survey details for Wakefield Local Area Partnership.

  64. Added inspection dates and survey details for West Northamptonshire Local Area Partnership.

  65. Added inspection dates and survey details for Dorset Local Area Partnership.

  66. Added inspection dates and survey details for Milton Keynes Local Area Partnership.

  67. Added inspection dates and survey details for Bury Local Area Partnership.

  68. Added inspection dates and survey details for Medway Local Area Partnership.

  69. Added inspection dates and survey details for Stoke-on-Trent Local Area Partnership and Haringey Local Area Partnership.

  70. Added inspection dates and survey details for North Northamptonshire Local Area Partnership.

  71. Added inspection dates and survey details for Gloucestershire Local Area Partnership.

  72. Added inspection dates and survey details Bexley Local Area Partnership.

  73. Added inspection dates and survey details West Sussex Local Area Partnership.

  74. Added inspection dates and survey details for Kingston upon Hull Local Area Partnership and Halton Local Area Partnership.

  75. Added inspection dates and survey details for Suffolk Local Area Partnership

  76. Added inspection dates and survey details for Trafford Local Area Partnership.

  77. Added inspection dates and survey details for Middlesbrough Local Area Partnership.

  78. Added inspection dates and survey details for Richmond upon Thames Local Area Partnership.

  79. Added inspection dates and survey details for Surrey Local Area Partnership.

  80. Added inspection dates and survey details for Oxfordshire County Council.

  81. Added inspection dates and survey details for Hertfordshire County Council.

  82. Added inspection dates and survey details for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

  83. Added inspection dates and survey details for Plymouth City Council and Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council.

  84. Added inspection dates and survey details for Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council.

  85. Added inspection dates and survey details for the London Borough of Greenwich. We have also added a new video for parents and carers about area SEND inspections.

  86. Added inspection dates and survey details for Rutland County Council.

  87. Added inspection dates and survey details for Brighton and Hove City Council.

  88. Added inspection dates and survey details for the London Borough of Enfield and Telford and Wrekin Council.

  89. Added inspection dates and survey details for Hartlepool Borough Council.

  90. Added inspection dates and survey details for Southend-on-Sea City Council.

  91. Updated with new guides for parents, carers, children and young people.

  92. Added revisit dates and survey details for Cumbria County Council.

  93. Added revisit dates and survey details for Norfolk and Somerset County Councils.

  94. Added revisit dates and survey details for Shropshire County Council.

  95. Added revisit dates and survey details for City of York Council and the Leicestershire County Council.

  96. Added revisit dates and survey details for Luton Borough Council and the London Borough of Merton.

  97. Added revisit dates and survey details for South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council.

  98. Added revisit dates and survey details for Bristol City Council.

  99. Added revisit dates and details of the webinars for Kent County Council, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

  100. Added re-visit dates and survey details for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.

  101. Added re-visit dates and survey details for Central Bedfordshire Council.

  102. Added re-visit dates and survey details for the London Borough of Wandsworth.

  103. Added revisit dates and survey details for Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council.

  104. Added revisit dates for Devon County Council.

  105. Added revisit dates for Essex County Council.

  106. Added revisit dates for Liverpool City Council.

  107. Minor correction to inspection dates for Council of the Isles of Scilly.

  108. Added inspection dates and survey details for the Council of the Isles of Scilly

  109. Added inspection dates and survey for Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and revisit dates and survey for North East Lincolnshire Council.

  110. Added inspection dates and survey for City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.

  111. Added inspection dates and survey for Buckinghamshire County Council.

  112. Added inspection dates and survey for London Borough of Hounslow.

  113. Added inspection dates and survey for Blackpool Borough Council.

  114. Added inspection dates and survey for Cheshire West and Cheshire Council, and revisit dates and survey for Sheffield City Council.

  115. Added dates and survey details for Kirklees Metropolitan Council.

  116. Added dates and survey details for Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

  117. Added inspection details for Darlington Borough Council and re-visit details for Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.

  118. Added inspection details for London Borough of Barnet and re-visit details for Peterborough City Council.

  119. Added dates and survey details for a re-visit of Staffordshire County Council.

  120. Added inspection dates and survey details for North Lincolnshire Council.

  121. Added dates and survey details for an inspection of London Borough of Newham and a re-visit of Thurrock Council.

  122. Added inspection dates and survey details for Bracknell Forest Borough Council.

  123. Added inspection dates and survey details for Manchester City Council.

  124. Added inspection dates and survey details for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

  125. Added inspection dates and survey details for North Tyneside Council and Torbay Borough Council.

  126. Added inspection dates and survey details for Islington and Nottingham.

  127. Added revisit dates for Worcestershire County Council.

  128. Added inspection dates and details of the survey for Tameside.

  129. Added inspection dates and details of the survey for East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

  130. Added revisit dates and details of the survey for Swindon.

  131. Added inspection dates and details of the survey for Croydon.

  132. Added dates and survey details for an upcoming inspection of Slough Borough Council and a re-visit of Derby City Council.

  133. Added inspection dates and details of the survey for Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.

  134. Added inspection dates and details of the survey for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

  135. Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for Wolverhampton City Council.

  136. Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for Warwickshire County Council.

  137. Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

  138. Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for London Borough of Haringey.

  139. Added inspection dates and webinar details for London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

  140. Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for Reading Borough Council.

  141. Added visit dates and webinar links for Sunderland City Council.

  142. Added visit dates and webinar links for Richmond Upon Thames.

  143. Added visit dates and webinar details for Birmingham City Council.

  144. Added visit dates and webinar details for Cheshire East Council.

  145. Added visit dates and webinar links for Northumberland County Council.

  146. Added visit dates and webinar links for North Somerset Council

  147. Added visit dates and webinar links for Wokingham Borough Council and Newcastle Upon Tyne.

  148. Added visit dates and webinar links for Leicester City Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.

  149. We've removed inspection visit information, as we are temporarily suspending all routine inspections of schools, further education, early years and social care providers.

  150. Added dates and links for Worcestershire County Council, Darlington Borough Council and Cheshire West and Chester County Council.

  151. Added dates and links for London Borough of Westminster and Somerset County Council.

  152. Added dates and links for Norfolk, Hampshire and Lancashire County Council's.

  153. Added dates and links for the London Borough of Sutton revisit.

  154. Added dates for Leicestershire County Council and South Gloucestershire Council.

  155. Added dates and links for Bedford Borough Council revisit and a visit to Shropshire Council.

  156. Added dates and links to gather views ahead of a visit to the London Borough of Lambeth and a revisit to Durham County Council.

  157. Added webinar dates and links for Medway Council, Salford City Council and York City Council.

  158. Added dates for Isle of White Council inspection and webinar link.

  159. Added webinar link for parents and carers to share feedback for Central Bedfordshire Council.

  160. The local area SEND inspection of the City of York will no longer take place Monday 11th November to Friday 15th November 2019. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission will announce the details of a revised inspection date in due course.

  161. Added dates for City of York Council visit and the link to the feedback survey.

  162. Added visit dates and webinar link for the London Borough of Wandsworth.

  163. Added dates and link for families to give feedback for Coventry City Council.

  164. Added the visit dates The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, Oxfordshire County Council and Kingston upon Hull. The feedback survey dates and links are also available for families and cares to give their views.

  165. Added dates and webinar link for Essex County Council.

  166. Added links to gather views ahead of a visit to the London Borough of Bromley and a revisit to Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council.

  167. Added dates and webinar links for Portsmouth City Council, London Borough of Harrow and Middlesbrough Borough Council.

  168. Added dates and webinar link for South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council.

  169. Added dates and webinar links for Merton and Peterborough.

  170. Added visit dates and webinar link for Bury Metropolitan Council.

  171. Added revisit dates for the London Borough of Brent.

  172. Added revisit dates for Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

  173. Added details of an inspection (Cumbria) and revisit (Waltham Forest).

  174. Added dates and webinar link for Bath and North East Somerset Council.

  175. Added inspection/revisit dates for Calderdale, Camden, Wokingham, Surrey and Sandwell.

  176. Added inspection dates and webinar details for Stockton-on-Tees and Walsall Borough Councils.

  177. Added inspection dates and webinar details for Kent County Council.

  178. Added inspection dates and webinar details for London Borough of Ealing.

  179. Added inspection dates and webinar details for Liverpool City Council.

  180. Added inspection dates and webinar details for Warrington Borough Council and Devon County Council.

  181. Added details of future inspections: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and Luton Borough Council.

  182. Added inspection dates and webinar details for Swindon Borough Council.

  183. Added inspection dates for Staffordshire County Council and Sheffield City Council

  184. Added inspection dates and webinar details for Milton Keynes.

  185. Added inspection dates and webinar details for Lincolnshire, Southend-on-Sea and Northumberland.

  186. Added inspection dates and webinars links for North East Lincolnshire

  187. Added inspection dates and webinars links for London Borough of Southwark and Birmingham City Council.

  188. Added date and webinar link for Wigan inspection.

  189. Added date and webinar link for Redbridge inspection.

  190. Added inspection dates and webinar link for West Berkshire.

  191. Added inspection dates and webinar link for North Somerset.

  192. Added details of upcoming inspection of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

  193. Added inspection dates and webinar for Leicester.

  194. Added inspection information and webinar for Cheshire East.

  195. Details of SEND inspection of City of London Corporation 12 to 16 March, and details of webinar on 9 March added.

  196. Added details of an upcoming local area SEND inspection for Worcestershire.

  197. Upcoming inspection of Redcar and Cleveland local area added.

  198. Upcoming inspection of London Borough of Havering added.

  199. Added details of an upcoming local area SEND inspection for West Sussex.

  200. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Area SEND inspections: information for parents and carers

HTML

Area SEND inspections: information for parents and carers (EasyRead)

PDF, 1.73 MB, 13 pages

Area SEND inspections: information for children and young people

HTML

Area SEND inspections: information for children and young people (EasyRead)

PDF, 1.43 MB, 10 pages

Details

Area SEND inspections: for parents and carers

Area SEND inspection explained - information for parents and carers

Area SEND inspections: British Sign Language (BSL)

Information for parents and carers

Information for parents and carers about the area SEND inspection of your local area - YouTube

Information for children and young people

Information for children and young people about the area SEND inspection of your local area - YouTube

Area SEND inspections

Ofsted and CQC jointly inspect local area partnerships to see how well they work together to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The inspections are carried out in line with the area SEND inspection framework and handbook.

From January 2023, all local area partnerships will receive an inspection under the new area SEND framework. The area SEND inspections under the new framework will follow a continuous cycle of inspections. Local area partnerships are inspected at least once every 5 years.

Areas we will inspect

  • Gateshead Local Area Partnership, 16 November 2026 to 20 November 2026. Take part in the Gateshead Local Area Partnership survey to give your views from 2 November 2026 to 9am on 10 November 2026.

  • Barnet Local Area Partnership, 16 November 2026 to 20 November 2026. Take part in the Barnet Local Area Partnership survey to give your views from 2 November 2026 to 9am on 10 November 2026.

  • Somerset Local Area Partnership, 16 November 2026 to 20 November 2026. Take part in the Somerset Local Area Partnership survey to give your views from 2 November 2026 to 9am on 10 November 2026.

  • Hampshire Local Area Partnership, 16 November 2026 to 20 November 2026. Take part in the Hampshire Local Area Partnership survey to give your views from 2 November 2026 to 9am on 10 November 2026.

Inspection reports

Read our reports for area SEND inspections.

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