Ofsted: what it does - and what it doesn't do

Ofsted is an organisation that school leaders, teachers and most parents are very familiar with.

For parents, the inspectorate can provide a quick, but some might say reductive, snapshot of a prospective school.

For those working in schools, Ofsted inspections represent a key element of the accountability system that is often criticised for being too high-stakes.

Yet, despite being a household name, Ofsted’s remit is often confused or misunderstood.

Key changes and updates to its grading and inspection toolkit, set to come into effect in September, aim to clarify what inspectors are looking for when they assess the performance of schools.

But what exactly does Ofsted do, where did it come from, and what sits outside its remit?

What is Ofsted’s overall purpose?

Ofsted’s stated mission is “to improve lives by raising standards in education and children’s social care”.

Its responsibilities include the inspection of a wide range of educational institutions and the regulation of childcare and social care services.

After inspection, Ofsted publishes reports for use by parents, carers, policymakers and the public.

Ofsted is a schools inspectorate but not a schools regulator. It produces graded judgements about schools but the actions taken by the state as a result of those judgements are carried out by the Department for Education.

It introduced a new inspection framework in November 2025, meaning that schools are now inspected across at least six evaluation areas on a five-point grading scale. They now receive a report card detailing their grades.

Schools previously received a single grade for overall effectiveness, but this was scrapped in September 2024.

In the report card system, schools are given one of the following grades in each evaluation area:

• “Exceptional”
• “Strong standard”
• “Expected standard”
• “Needs attention”
• “Urgent improvement’‘
   

When was Ofsted set up?

Set up in 1992 as a non-ministerial department, Ofsted was first introduced in state-funded schools before being extended to daycare and childminders in 2001, and then to adult learning organisations in 2007.

What sectors does it cover?

The areas inspected and regulated by Ofsted have expanded over time, and now include:

• Education - schools, academies, independent schools, colleges, apprenticeship providers, prison education, other educational institutions and programmes outside higher education
• Skills training - further education (FE) providers, training organisations and apprenticeship providers
• Childcare - childminders, nurseries, preschools, other early years services
• Children’s social care - local authorities, adoption and fostering agencies and other services caring for children and vulnerable young people
• Initial teacher training and teacher development - inspecting providers of teacher education and professional development.

When do schools get inspected?

Schools are inspected approximately once every four years, except if they are in one of Ofsted’s monitoring programmes.

The statutory timeframe requires all schools to be inspected within five school years from the end of the school year in which the previous inspection took place.

Full inspections normally last for two days. Ofsted no longer carries out ungraded inspections.

What aspects of a school does Ofsted inspect?

Ofsted’s scope for inspection is outlined in its inspection toolkit and operating/monitoring guides for inspectors (last updated in June 2026).

The main evaluation areas that an inspection will cover are:

• Inclusion: how well the school meets the needs of all learners, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Curriculum and teaching: the quality of the curriculum, how well it is taught and how subjects are sequenced.
• Achievement: the progress and attainment that pupils make relative to their starting points.
• Attendance and behaviour: how the school promotes good attendance and maintains a calm, respectful environment.
• Personal development and wellbeing: opportunities for wider personal development, character building and support for pupil wellbeing.
• Leadership and governance: the effectiveness of leaders, the strength of governance, and work to support staff wellbeing.
• Safeguarding: how well the school complies with statutory guidance and keeps pupils safe. This is a binary “met ” or “not met” judgement

Ofsted will also grade a school’s early years provision and sixth-form provision where they exist.

How does Ofsted grade schools?

Under its new report card framework, Ofsted has produced inspection toolkits for each evaluation area.

This sets out the standards a school needs to meet in order to be awarded a particular grade.

Ofsted is using a “secure-fit” approach to grading, which means that in order for schools to be awarded an “expected standard” or “strong standard” grade, they need to meet every single descriptor in the toolkit for that evaluation area.

This has been a source of controversy over the grading of achievement because of the toolkit expectations for schools at the “expected standard”.

Ofsted’s toolkit says of schools at this grade: “On the whole, pupils achieve well. Typically, this will be reflected in their attainment and progress in national tests and examinations, which are broadly in line with national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils.”

Some say that this approach to grading achievement is unfair for schools in disadvantaged areas.

What does inspection not involve?

Ofsted does not expect school leaders to produce written evidence to support each standard in each evaluation area of the toolkit.

It also does not expect schools to have completed any formal self-evaluation using the toolkit. Its guidance to schools states that leaders will not be at a disadvantage if they do not have a written self-evaluation.

Ofsted does not require schools to show inspectors individual lesson plans or previous lesson plans, and it does not grade individual teachers or lessons.

The watchdog also does not evaluate individual workbooks or expect workbooks to be compiled solely to provide evidence for inspection.

And it does not use work scrutiny to evaluate teachers’ marking.

Ofsted does not look at admissions as part of its assessment of how a school is performing on inclusion.

Complaints

Before an inspection, inspectors are required to review and consider any qualifying complaints made to them about the school.

However, inspectors are not permitted to:

• Investigate or follow up the specific circumstances of a complaint received before and/or during the inspection, or come to any conclusions about the complaint itself.
• Use complaints, or information about complaints, as evidence to support grading, or reach any grades based on complaints. It is, however, permissible to take into account wider issues and information raised by complaints when planning inspection activities, and evidence found through those activities can be used to support decision-making about grades.

How is Ofsted connected with government?

Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department that is accountable to Parliament.

While its inspections are carried out independently, it is expected to collaborate with the Department for Education and align its principles with the government’s educational and social care policies.

The DfE uses Ofsted judgements as a trigger for intervention and support at schools.

Tes has broken down how the DfE responds to grades in report card inspections here.

Can a school refuse an inspection? 

Under Section 5 of the Education Act 2005, schools and educational institutions cannot legally refuse an inspection, and have to comply with a proposed inspection. Refusing an inspection can lead to fines and criminal charges.

However, schools can request deferrals or cancellations under exceptional circumstances.

How are inspections published?

At the end of an inspection, inspectors provide feedback to the school, including their final evaluation of its strengths and priorities for improvement.

An initial draft of the report card is sent out later, usually 18 days after completion of the inspection.

The school/educational institution then has five working days to provide feedback.

It can highlight minor points relating to the clarity and factual accuracy of the report, or it can submit a formal complaint seeking a review of the inspection process.

If the feedback is only minor, Ofsted will respond to these points when it shares a final report card, which is usually within 30 working days of the end of the inspection.

Schools (and other educational facilities) are required to provide a copy of the report card to parents.

Ofsted also invites related parties to fill out an online inspection survey, allowing them to share their views on the inspection process.