Outstanding providers are those providers who have been judged to have outstanding overall effectiveness in an Ofsted inspection. There are some instances where some special criteria may apply.
When Ofsted inspects a provider, the inspector will usually make a judgement on the standard of the provider. The very best providers receive a judgement of outstanding overall effectiveness.
Ofsted sends each outstanding provider a certificate and a letter from Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. These are normally posted to the provider during the month after the publication of the inspection report. The provider can use Ofsted’s Outstanding Provider logo on stationery and signage.
Every year, Ofsted publishes a list of outstanding providers for the previous inspection year, which runs September to August. Publication is usually at the same time as the Annual Report. There is also a file with all the lists going back to 1993/94.
For more information on the judgement grades, read about being inspected as a:
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Updates to this page
Published 10 December 2014