Official Statistics

Main findings: State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 August 2023

Published 14 November 2023

Applies to England

This is the main findings report for the state-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 August 2023 release. The following are also available:

• underlying data
• methodology
• pre-release access list

Summary

This release includes:

• schools’ most recent inspections and outcomes as at 31 August 2023
• data for inspections completed between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023 and published by 30 September 2023
• revised data for inspections completed between 1 September 2022 and 31 December 2022

Key findings

In 2022/23, we carried out 7,239 inspections, a substantial increase from 4,669 in 2021/22.

Comparing schools with the same previous grade, the inspection outcomes for each group of schools have been more positive in 2022/23 than in 2021/22.

89% of all schools are now good or outstanding at their most recent inspection, a small increase from 88% in August 2022.

Inspections between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023

In 2022/23, we carried out 7,239 inspections, a substantial increase from 4,669 in 2021/22.

In 2022/23, we carried out 7,239 inspections, including 3,722 graded inspections, 3,259 ungraded inspections and 258 monitoring or urgent inspections. This is a substantial increase from 4,669 in 2021/22, and the highest number of inspections we have completed in the last 5 years. This is largely because, this year, the Department for Education provided Ofsted with additional funding to catch up on the inspections that were missed during the COVID-19 pandemic and to inspect all schools at least once between April 2021 and August 2025.^{[footnote 1]}

Comparing schools with the same previous grade, the inspection outcomes for each group of schools have been more positive in 2022 to 2023 than in 2021 2022.

The outcomes from the inspections this year continue the positive trend seen last year, and 88% of the schools that had a graded or an ungraded inspection were judged to be good or outstanding. Comparing schools with the same previous grade (see figure 1 and figure 3), the graded inspection outcomes for each group of schools have been even stronger this year than last year.

Graded inspections

Figure 1: Outcomes of graded inspections by previous overall effectiveness grade

<sup>1. Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100.
2. Numbers of inspections are in brackets.
View data in an accessible table format.</sup>

In 2022/23, 75% of schools previously judged to require improvement have improved to good or outstanding, compared with 70% in 2021/22. 70% of good schools have also maintained their grade at a graded inspection, higher than 57% last year. More previously good schools also improved to outstanding (6% compared with 4% in 2021/22).

The great majority of outstanding schools that had a graded inspection this year (94%) are primary and secondary schools that were exempt from routine inspection between 2012 and 2020.^{[footnote 2]} Since the government lifted the exemption and we restarted routine inspections of these schools, 19% of the schools that had a graded inspection have remained outstanding.^{[footnote 3]} However, it is encouraging to see that a slightly higher proportion of the previously exempt schools have remained outstanding this year (20% compared with 17% in 2021/22), and, crucially, a lower proportion were found to require improvement or to be inadequate (13% compared with 22% in 2021/22).

Looking across all the different phases of education and previous grades, 268 schools were judged outstanding at a graded inspection in 2022/23. Of these, 120 were already outstanding, while 148 improved to outstanding or had not been inspected previously.

Figure 2: Overall effectiveness and key judgements of graded inspections, 2022/23

<sup>1. Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100.
2. Numbers of inspections are in brackets.
View data in an accessible table format.</sup>

In graded inspections, we make 4 key judgements, along with the overall effectiveness judgement. We also judge early years and sixth-form provision where relevant. This year, outcomes for quality of education in these inspections were very similar to those for overall effectiveness. Outcomes for behaviour and attitudes and personal development were more positive than other key judgements this year (89% and 92% good or outstanding respectively). As in previous years, primary schools achieved higher grades than secondary for all key judgements.^{[footnote 4]} The biggest difference between primary and secondary continues to be for behaviour and attitudes (93% good or outstanding in primary, 76% in secondary).

Ungraded inspections

Figure 3: Outcomes of ungraded inspections by previous overall effectiveness grade

<sup>1. Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100.
2. Numbers of inspections are in brackets.
View data in an accessible table format.</sup>

Inspectors raised concerns in a smaller proportion of the outstanding schools inspected in 2022/23 than in 2021/22 (39% compared with 53%). They also raised concerns about a smaller proportion of the good schools they visited (13% compared with 17% in 2021/22). All schools where inspectors either had concerns or thought the school may be improving will receive a follow-up graded inspection within 12 months.

Safeguarding

Of the schools that had a graded or an ungraded inspection this year, 99% had effective safeguarding arrangements.^{[footnote 5]}

Where a school is not getting safeguarding right, there are very likely to be other significant weaknesses in the school. This year, based on their grades for the key judgements, only 6 state-funded schools that had a graded inspection had ineffective safeguarding but no other significant issues. The other 58 schools with ineffective safeguarding would most likely have been judged requires improvement or inadequate even if there had not been issues with safeguarding.^{[footnote 6]}

Schools at their most recent inspection

89% of all schools are now good or outstanding at their most recent inspection, a small increase from 88% in August 2022.

89% of all schools are now good or outstanding at their most recent inspection, a small increase from 88% in August 2022, and 86% in August 2021 (just before inspections resumed after being paused during the COVID-19 pandemic). Both primary and secondary schools have seen a small increase this year, (from 89% to 90% of primary schools, and 80% to 82% of secondary schools).

Figure 4: Most recent overall effectiveness of state-funded schools, over time

<sup>1. Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100.
2. Data for each point in time has been revised and is now based on the current methodology, to include predecessor schools.
3. Numbers of schools are in brackets.
View data in an accessible table format.</sup>

Following the resumption of routine inspections of outstanding schools, the overall proportion of all schools judged outstanding has decreased slightly, from 19% in August 2021 to 16% currently. In the same period, there has been an increase in the proportion judged good (from 67% in 2021 to 73% currently). While this indicates a gradual shift from outstanding to good, the overall proportion of schools with one of the two top grades continues to rise.

Revisions to previous release

The provisional data in the previous release related to inspections that took place between 1 September 2022 and 31 December 2022, with the reports published by 7 February 2023. Revised data for inspections in this period is provided in tables 1R and 2R of the data file accompanying this release: State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 August 2023, charts and tables.

This revised data includes an additional 110 full inspections that had not been published by 7 February 2023, but were published by 30 September 2023. These inspections resulted in the following number of additional judgements at each overall effectiveness grade:

• 6 outstanding
• 40 good
• 39 requires improvement
• 25 inadequate

Table 1: Changes in overall effectiveness proportions for schools inspected between 1 September 2022 and 31 December 2022

Ofsted phase	Provisional % outstanding	Revised % outstanding	Percentage point change in % outstanding	Provisional % good	Revised % good	Percentage point change in % good	Provisional % requires improvement	Revised % requires improvement	Percentage point change in % requires improvement	Provisional % inadequate	Revised % inadequate	Percentage point change in % inadequate
Nursery	50	50	0	0	0	0	50	50	0	0	0	0
Primary	4	4	0	74	71	-3	20	21	1	2	4	2
Secondary	13	13	0	60	56	-4	20	22	2	7	9	2
Special	17	16	-1	46	46	0	31	32	1	6	5	-1
Alternative provision	0	0	0	50	44	-6	25	33	8	25	22	-3
All schools	7	7	0	69	66	-3	21	22	1	4	5	1

^{Provisional data includes inspections published up to 7 February 2023, and revised data includes inspections published up to 30 September 2023.}

We publish revisions to data in this publication, in line with our revisions policy for official statistics.

Notes

The purpose of these official statistics is to disseminate the data on school standards collected through Ofsted’s role as an inspectorate. They provide information about how the judgements of schools have changed over time. They vary across different phases of education and different parts of the country.

This official statistics release reports on the outcomes of state-funded school inspections carried out under sections 5 and 8 of the Education Act 2005. We carried out these inspections between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023. This release includes all inspections published by 30 September 2023. It also includes the most recent inspections and outcomes for all schools that we have inspected, as at 31 August 2023.

Throughout this release, we use the term ‘schools’ to cover all local authority-maintained schools, state-funded academies and non-maintained special schools in England that section 5 of the Education Act 2005 requires us to inspect.

We carried out inspections between September 2015 and August 2019 under the common inspection framework.

Since September 2019, we have carried out inspections under the education inspection framework.

You can find an explanation of the main uses of this data, further contextual information and the arrangements for quality assurance in the methodology report. The methodology report provides information about the strengths and limitations of the statistics.

Where we have quoted percentages in this report, figures have been rounded and may not add to 100.

Graded, ungraded, monitoring and urgent inspections

Ofsted carries out inspections under sections 5 and 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We are required to inspect all schools to which section 5 applies, at prescribed intervals. The regulations set the interval for graded inspections from the end of the school year in which the last inspection took place. This interval was temporarily extended by 18 months when inspections were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Section 8 enables His Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) to carry out inspections for a range of purposes. This includes monitoring visits to schools that are in a category of concern following a graded inspection. Inspectors may also visit schools to aid HMCI in keeping the Secretary of State for Education informed or to contribute to reports on, for example, the teaching in a curriculum subject or a particular aspect of the work of schools.

Inspections carried out under section 8 include:

• ungraded inspections of schools judged to be good or outstanding at their most recent graded inspection
• monitoring inspections of schools judged as requires improvement, having serious weaknesses or requiring special measures
• urgent inspections, which include those with no formal designation and unannounced inspections in response to concerns about behaviour in a school

Ungraded inspections

Ungraded inspections are usually 2-day inspections, although some small primary schools may receive a 1-day inspection. The ungraded inspection determines whether the school continues to provide the same good or outstanding standard of education for pupils. It does not result in individual graded judgements. It also does not change the school’s overall effectiveness grade. If there are serious concerns, we convert the ungraded inspection to a graded inspection, at which inspectors will make the full set of graded judgements.

Since November 2017, some previously good schools have received a graded inspection instead of an ungraded inspection if our risk assessment tells us that an ungraded inspection would be highly likely to convert to a graded inspection. For example, this applies if a school has undergone significant change, such as changing its age range, or if we have concerns that the quality of provision may have deteriorated significantly.

Since January 2018, ungraded inspections have only converted to graded inspections if there have been serious concerns. If an ungraded inspection is not converted, but inspectors find evidence that the school may no longer receive the same grade for overall effectiveness, they will specify that the next inspection should be a graded inspection.

Between May 2012 and November 2020, outstanding primary and secondary schools were exempt from routine inspection. In November 2020, the government lifted the exemption, and we restarted routine inspections of previously exempt schools in September 2021. The school inspection handbook provides further details about inspections of formerly exempt outstanding schools.

Glossary

Definitions of terms are in the statistical glossary.

Further information

Contacts

If you are a member of the public and have any comments or feedback on this publication, please contact Louise Butler on 03000 131 457 or the schools data and analysis team on inspectioninsight@ofsted.gov.uk.

Press enquiries should be sent to our press team, at pressenquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the following for their contribution to this statistical release: Chris Foley, Matthew Spencer and Sam Trapp.

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Data tables for figures

Data for figure 1: Outcomes of graded inspections by previous overall effectiveness grade

Previous overall effectiveness	Number of inspections	% Outstanding	% Good	% Requires improvement	% Inadequate
Outstanding 2022/23	578	21	66	11	2
Outstanding 2021/22	419	16	61	17	5
Good 2022/23	1,984	6	70	21	4
Good 2021/22	814	4	57	28	11
Requires improvement 2022/23	762	1	74	22	4
Requires improvement 2021/22	862	0	69	25	5
Inadequate 2022/23	274	1	66	30	3
Inadequate 2021/22	220	2	63	29	5
New school 2022/23	124	19	71	9	1
New school 2021/22	52	6	62	19	13
All schools 2022/23	3,722	7	70	20	3
All schools 2021/22	2,367	5	63	25	7

See Figure 1

Data for figure 2: Overall effectiveness and key judgements of graded inspections, 2022/23

Judgement	Number of inspections	% Outstanding	% Good	% Requires improvement	% Inadequate
Overall effectiveness	3,722	7	70	20	3
Quality of education	3,722	7	71	20	2
Behaviour and attitudes	3,722	17	73	9	2
Personal development	3,722	20	73	7	1
Leadership and management	3,722	10	71	16	3
Early years provision	2,734	12	75	11	2
Sixth-form provision	459	24	68	8	0

See Figure 2

Data for figure 3: Outcomes of ungraded inspections by previous overall effectiveness grade

Previous overall effectiveness	Number of inspections	% School remains outstanding	% School remains outstanding (concerns)	% School remains good (improving)	% School remains good	% School remains good (concerns)
Outstanding 2022/23	355	61	39	not applicable	not applicable	not applicable
Outstanding 2021/22	195	47	53	not applicable	not applicable	not applicable
Good 2022/23	2,904	not applicable	not applicable	7	80	13
Good 2021/22	1,906	not applicable	not applicable	5	78	17

See Figure 3

Data for figure 4: Most recent overall effectiveness of state-funded schools, over time

Phase	As at	Number of schools	% Outstanding	% Good	% Requires improvement	% Inadequate
All schools	31 August 2023	21,807	16	73	9	3
All schools	31 August 2022	21,72518	70	9	3
All schools	31 August 2021	21,724	19	67	10	3
All schools	31 August 2020	21,776	19	67	10	4
All schools	31 August 2019	21,803	20	66	10	4
Primary	31 August 2023	16,695	14	76	8	2
Primary	31 August 2022	16,660	15	74	8	3
Primary	31 August 2021	16,666	17	71	9	3
Primary	31 August 2020	16,691	17	71	9	3
Primary	31 August 2019	16,708	18	70	10	3
Secondary	31 August 2023	3,363	16	66	13	5
Secondary	31 August 2022	3,330	18	61	14	6
Secondary	31 August 2021	3,316	20	56	16	7
Secondary	31 August 2020	3,330	20	56	16	8
Secondary	31 August 2019	3,335	21	55	17	7

See Figure 4

1. This accelerated inspection programme has resulted in more inspections than usual this year, but the increase is particularly noticeable due to the number of inspections in each year since 2019/20 being lower than normal due to the pandemic. In September 2021, normal inspections resumed, but the numbers that could be carried out were slightly affected by fewer inspections taking place in December 2021 due to the surge in the Omicron variant of COVID-19, and by contracted inspectors needing to work in their schools rather than for Ofsted in January 2022. ↩

2. Primary and secondary schools were exempt from routine inspection between 2012 and 2020 but could still be inspected if there were concerns. Nursery schools, special schools and alternative provision were not exempt. ↩

3. For further details on the period of the exemption, the position at the end of the period, and inspections in the first year after it ended, see our data commentary, ‘A return to inspection: the story (so far) of previously exempt outstanding schools’, November 2022. ↩

4. Based on inspections under the education inspection framework (EIF) in 2019/20, 2021/22 and 2022/23. 2020/21 is not included as graded inspections were largely paused due to the pandemic. ↩

5. Effective safeguarding means having no serious and/or widespread issues with safeguarding practice that put children at risk from harm, but could mean there are minor issues, such as technicalities in paperwork, that do not put children at risk. 99% of the school inspections we carried out this year (graded and ungraded combined) judged schools to have effective safeguarding. ↩

6. Sixty-four schools were ineffective for safeguarding at a graded inspection in 2022/23. If a school is found to be ineffective for safeguarding at a graded inspection, then leadership and management and overall effectiveness are usually graded inadequate, but the other judgements are not affected. Out of the 64 schools, 58 were graded requires improvement or inadequate for at least one of the other key judgements too (quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes). The other 6 were graded good or outstanding for these key judgements. ↩