Official Statistics

Main findings: State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 December 2022

Published 30 March 2023

Applies to England

This is the main findings report for the state-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 December 2022 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 December 2022
• data for inspections completed between 1 September 2022 and 31 December 2022 and published by 7 February 2023
• revised data for inspections completed between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022

Key findings

Eighty-eight per cent of all schools are good or outstanding.

Seventy-five per cent of schools previously judged to require improvement improved to good.

Schools at their most recent inspection

Eighty-eight per cent of all schools are good or outstanding.

Eighty-eight per cent of all state-funded schools are good or outstanding. This proportion is unchanged since August 2022 (our last release), when it had increased from 86% in August 2021. Between August 2019, when we started inspecting under the education inspection framework, and August 2021, the proportion of good and outstanding schools was stable at 86%.

The proportion of good and outstanding primary schools has increased from 89% to 90% since August 2022, whereas for secondary schools the proportion has remained unchanged, at 80%.

Since 2019, the proportion of schools judged outstanding at their most recent inspection has decreased from 20% to 17%, whereas the percentage judged good has increased from 66% to 72%. This gradual shift from outstanding to good is likely to be due to a combination of the education inspection framework raising the bar for outstanding schools, and the exemption from routine inspection for outstanding primary and secondary schools ending in November 2020. ^{[footnote 1]}

Figure 1: Most recent overall effectiveness of 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. Number of schools in brackets.
View data in an accessible table format.</sup>

Inspections between 1 September 2022 and 31 December 2022

This academic year we have carried out:

• 1,222 graded inspections. This includes ungraded and monitoring inspections that converted to graded inspections
• 852 ungraded inspections
• 70 monitoring and urgent inspections

Graded inspections

Seventy-five per cent of schools previously judged to require improvement improved to good.

Overall, 76% of schools were judged good or outstanding at a graded inspection in 2022/23, compared with 67% in 2021/22. The mix of schools inspected each year varies. So, to make the data more comparable across the 2 years, we have looked at the outcomes by the previous grades of each school.

Figure 2: Outcomes of graded inspections in 2022/23 and 2021/22 by previous overall effectiveness grade

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

In 2022/23, 69% of previously good schools remained good at a graded inspection, an increase from 57% last year, and the same proportion as last year improved to outstanding (4%). Seventy-five per cent of schools previously judged to require improvement have improved to good, compared with 69% in 2021/22.

So far this year, a higher proportion of schools have been judged good or outstanding across all previous overall effectiveness grades, compared with last year.

The relationship between the key judgements awarded at a graded inspection is similar to that seen in previous years. ^{[footnote 2]} For instance, there is a close alignment between the grades for quality of education and overall effectiveness. This is because the quality of education judgement must be at least good for a school to be judged good for overall effectiveness, or outstanding for the school to be judged outstanding for overall effectiveness. ^{[footnote 3]}

Figure 3: Outcomes of graded inspections of primary schools in 2022/23, by key judgement

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

Figure 4: Outcomes of graded inspections of secondary schools in 2022/23, by key judgement

<sup>1. Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100.
2. Number of inspections in brackets.
3. Early years provision judgements are for all-through secondary schools that take children of early years age.
View data in an accessible table format.</sup>

If a school is judged as requires improvement in any key judgement, then it is likely that the overall effectiveness judgement will also be requires improvement, other than in exceptional circumstances. Similarly, if a school is judged inadequate in any key judgement, then the overall effectiveness judgement will also be inadequate.

If a school is judged to have ineffective safeguarding, then it will be judged inadequate for both leadership and management, and overall effectiveness. Other key judgements could, however, be better than inadequate. This means that safeguarding concerns could be the only issue identified in a school that might otherwise have received a more positive judgement.

Primary schools generally receive higher overall effectiveness grades than secondary schools, with 78% of primaries being judged good or outstanding this year compared with 73% of secondaries. The other key judgements tend to follow a similar pattern.

There is a notable difference in behaviour and attitudes judgements for primary and secondary schools, with 94% of primary schools judged good or outstanding in this area, compared with 78% of secondary schools.

A notably higher proportion of primary schools were judged good or outstanding for behaviour and attitudes, and for personal development, than for the other key judgements.

Ungraded inspections

Figure 5: Outcomes of ungraded inspections by previous overall effectiveness grade

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

This year, inspectors raised concerns about a lower proportion of the outstanding schools they visited (45% in 2022/23 compared with 53% in 2021/22). This was also the case for good schools; however, the change is smaller, with concerns raised in 15% of inspections this year compared with 17% in 2021/22. The proportion of good schools identified as potentially improving has remained the same at 5%.

All of the schools where inspectors either had concerns or thought the school may be improving will receive a follow-up graded inspection within 12 months.

Revisions to previous release

The provisional data in the previous release related to inspections that took place between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022, with the reports published by 7 October 2022. 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 December 2022, charts and tables.

This revised data includes an additional 42 full inspections that had not been published by 7 October 2022, but were published by 7 February 2023. These inspections resulted in the following number of additional judgements at each overall effectiveness grade:

• 0 outstanding
• 10 good
• 19 requires improvement
• 13 inadequate

Table 1: Changes in overall effectiveness proportions for schools inspected between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 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	25	24	-1	50	48	-2	15	19	4	10	10	0
Primary	4	4	0	66	66	0	24	24	0	5	6	1
Secondary	6	6	0	58	57	-1	27	28	1	9	10	1
Special	4	4	0	51	50	-1	23	23	0	21	23	2
Alternative provision	6	6	0	55	55	0	29	29	0	10	10	0
All schools	5	5	0	63	63	0	25	25	0	7	7	0

^{Provisional data includes inspections published up to 7 October 2022 and revised data includes inspections published up to 7 February 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 December 2022. This release includes all inspections published by 7 February 2023. It also includes the most recent inspections and outcomes for all schools that we have inspected, as at 31 December 2022.

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 ‘within 5 school years 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. These take place approximately every 4 years. 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, where 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 are 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: Edward Giles, Matthew Spencer and Sam Trapp.

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Data tables for figures

Data for figure 1: Most recent overall effectiveness of schools, over time

Phase	As at	% Outstanding	% Good	% Requires improvement	% Inadequate
All schools	31 December 2022 (21,721)	17	72	9	3
All schools	31 August 2022 (21,725)	18	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 December 2022 (16,654)	15	75	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 December 2022 (3,332)	17	64	13	6
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 1

Data for figure 2: Outcomes of graded inspections in 2022/23 and 2021/22 by previous overall effectiveness grade

Previous overall effectiveness	% Outstanding	% Good	% Requires improvement	% Inadequate
Outstanding 2022/23 (252)	22	64	12	2
Outstanding 2021/22 (419)	16	61	17	5
Good 2022/23 (565)	4	69	22	4
Good 2021/22 (814)	4	57	28	11
RI 2022/23 (299)	0	75	22	3
RI 2021/22 (862)	0	69	25	5
Inadequate 2022/23 (80)	1	68	28	4
Inadequate 2021/22 (220)	2	63	29	5
New school 2022/23 (26)	8	69	19	4
New school 2021/22 (52)	6	62	19	13

See Figure 2

Data for figure 3: Outcomes of graded inspections of primary schools in 2022/23, by key judgement

Judgement	% Outstanding	% Good	% Requires improvement	% Inadequate	% Yes	% No
Overall effectiveness (883)	4	74	20	2	n/a	n/a
Quality of education (883)	4	74	20	1	n/a	n/a
Behaviour and attitudes (883)	12	82	6	0	n/a	n/a
Personal development (883)	15	80	5	0	n/a	n/a
Leadership and management (883)	6	75	17	2	n/a	n/a
Early years provision (845)	9	78	11	2	n/a	n/a
Safeguarding is effective (883)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	99	1

See Figure 3

Data for figure 4: Outcomes of graded inspections of secondary schools in 2022/23, by key judgement

Judgement	% Outstanding	% Good	% Requires improvement	% Inadequate	% Yes	% No
Overall effectiveness (294)	13	60	20	7	n/a	n/a
Quality of education (294)	14	63	20	4	n/a	n/a
Behaviour and attitudes (294)	22	55	17	5	n/a	n/a
Personal development (294)	23	62	12	3	n/a	n/a
Leadership and management (294)	18	59	17	6	n/a	n/a
Early years provision (10)	10	90	0	0	n/a	n/a
Sixth-form provision (181)	29	65	6	0	n/a	n/a
Safeguarding is effective (294)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	95	5

See Figure 4

Data for figure 5: Outcomes of ungraded inspections by previous overall effectiveness grade

Previous overall effectiveness	% School remains outstanding	% School remains outstanding (concerns)	% School remains good (improving)	% School remains good	% School remains good (concerns)
Outstanding 2022/23 (73)	55	45	n/a	n/a	n/a
Outstanding 2021/22 (195)	47	53	n/a	n/a	n/a
Good 2022/23 (779)	n/a	n/a	5	80	15
Good 2021/22 (1,906)	n/a	n/a	5	78	17

See Figure 5

1. Government legislation made outstanding primary and secondary schools exempt from routine inspection between 2012 and 2020, though they could still be inspected if we had concerns. Routine inspections restarted in September 2021. Nursery schools, special schools and alternative provision were not exempt. ↩

2. ‘The Annual Report of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2021/22’, Ofsted, December 2022.
   
   ‘The Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2019/20’, Ofsted, December 2020. ↩

3. ‘School inspection handbook’, Ofsted, May 2019. ↩