School inspectors will be taking down notes on tablets during their school visits, rather than using pen and paper.

The move to digital devices will begin this month after being piloted in July, Ofsted’s national director of education, Sean Harford, revealed in a blog for the inspectorate.

Currently inspectors fill in handwritten forms, which are scanned and stored electronically.

“This is all a little bit 20th century,” Mr Harford writes. “So, in line with many other public sector organisations, we decided the time was right for Ofsted to embrace modern technology in ways that make the very best use of our resources.”

Now inspectors will be able to type, record voice notes or handwrite notes on to a tablet. The tablet will transform handwriting into printed text.

Ofsted inspections go digital

The inspection process will remain the same - although inspectors will need to use the school’s broadband to allow them to share notes with colleagues.

But the hope is that the move will mean less time will be spent collating written evidence and less money will be spent on printing and postage.

Mr Harford reports that school leaders and pupils felt that the pilot inspections using the electronic evidence gathering system felt “less obtrusive” than those using handwritten evidence forms.

The move comes after Ofsted announced last year that it would be using a computer algorithm to help to decide whether to inspect “good” and “outstanding” schools.