How formerly exempt 'outstanding' schools are inspected
Following the removal of the 'outstanding' exemption, all formerly exempt schools will now be inspected before September 2025.
Whether this inspection is graded or ungraded depends on when your last graded inspection (formerly known as a section 5) took place:
- If you last received a graded inspection before September 2015, you'll have a graded inspection
- If you last received a graded inspection after September 2015, you'll have an ungraded inspection (formerly known as a section 8)
If an initial ungraded inspection indicates that you may no longer be 'outstanding', Ofsted will normally carry out a graded inspection within the next 12 months or as soon as possible thereafter. The inspection will be before 1 August 2026.
Following this initial inspection, your school will receive future inspections as outlined below.
This is explained in paragraphs 40 and 69 of the School Inspection Handbook.
