- Consultation on reforming education inspections shows strong parental support for new report cards, but sector feedback reveals further work is needed to refine the final approach.
- Revised inspection framework and methodology to be published in September, alongside Ofsted’s response to the consultation.
- Inspections under the new approach will begin in November 2025, as planned.
The consultation also set out proposals for new inspection toolkits and a range of methodological changes to ensure the consistency of inspection and improve the experience for education professionals.
A formal response to the consultation was originally intended for the summer term, but Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, has confirmed in a letter to the Secretary of State for Education today that the scale of feedback received means the final response will now be published in September. This will allow more time to analyse responses and carry out further testing of proposals to refine and improve the final approach.
The online consultation questionnaire received over 6,500 responses from parents, education professionals and representative bodies. Ofsted also conducted over 200 test visits to schools, early-years settings, further education and skills providers and initial teacher education (ITE) institutions. At the same time, YouGov carried out extensive independent polling and focus groups with parents and professionals.
Parental feedback on the new-look report card was overwhelmingly positive. Almost 7 out of 10 parents surveyed said they preferred report cards to Ofsted’s current inspection reports. And nearly 9 out of 10 parents said the proposed report cards are easy to understand.
In response to sector feedback on the inspection toolkits, Ofsted has already confirmed its intention to improve their clarity, particularly in how grades and the boundaries between them are defined. Concerns have also been raised about the number of evaluation areas to be considered on inspection, and insights from test visits have suggested these could be streamlined to make inspections more workable for all involved.
Ofsted is also doing more work to further ensure the consistency of inspection by developing additional management and oversight measures, which will be set out in September’s response.
To minimise the pressure of inspection, an independent assessment of the impact of the new approach on professionals’ wellbeing will be published as part of the response to the consultation.
In his letter to the Education Secretary, Sir Martyn Oliver said
I said from the start that this is a meaningful consultation and that our proposals were not set in stone. We fully intend to make improvements to the proposed inspection framework, based on what we have heard, but we need a little more time to complete our analysis of the responses we have received. I am also convinced that our final approach will be improved by further testing of these refinements before the summer.
I firmly believe this will result in a better and more effective inspection regime that will help the committed professionals in the education sector to raise standards for children and learners.
Ofsted will continue to engage extensively with the education sector throughout the summer, with test visits to be extended to the end of this term. After publishing the consultation response, toolkits and related materials in September, Ofsted will hold comprehensive briefings for education professionals in the first half of the autumn term, while routine inspections are on hold.
Ofsted will run a programme of training events and roadshows for providers. Every provider will be invited to nominate an individual to attend a training session, to give providers a thorough understanding of the revised framework. Sector-facing webinars will also continue, and inspector training materials will continue to be made publicly available.
Routine inspections in schools, early years and further education will resume under the revised framework in November. ITE inspections will resume in January 2026, in keeping with their usual timetable.
