Ofsted: latest updates

20 January 2022: Ofsted aims to have a full team of inspectors again from 31 January

• School leaders who are also inspectors were temporarily relieved of their inspecting duties from the start of January, to focus on the return to school after the Christmas break 
• From 31 January, Ofsted will have its full team of inspectors to call on again
• If you're a school leader, you'll still get to decide whether to offer your service to Ofsted, as has always been the case
• Additionally, Ofsted's deferral policy remains in place (see the update below for more detail)
• You should have received an email about this. If not, read more in this Schools Week article

4 January 2022: Ofsted encourages "significantly impacted" schools to request deferrals

• If your school is significantly impacted by COVID-related staff absence, you can ask to defer your inspection. Read more about Ofsted's clarification on deferrals in our 2 December 2021 update below
• Additionally, if you're a school leader who is also an Ofsted inspector, Ofsted won't ask you to carry out inspections for a temporary period from the start of January
• You should have received an email from the DfE about this

9 December 2021: inspections cancelled next week

• Inspections have been cancelled by Ofsted for the week beginning 13th December, so schools can focus on putting in place Omicron contingency measures for January. You'll only be inspected if Ofsted has safeguarding concerns about your school
• Secondary schools also won't be inspected during the first week of term in January to allow onsite pupil testing to take place, unless there are serious concerns
• You should have received an email about this. If not, read more in this Schools Week article

2 December 2021: clarification on deferrals during COVID-19

Ofsted has clarified its guidance on deferrals to state that:

• It's mindful that the challenges and impact of COVID-19 will vary considerably from school to school
• It recognises that there will be circumstances when it's not the right time for an inspection to go ahead
• If schools have any concerns about the timing of their inspection or visit, they should request a deferral
• It judges every request on its own merits, according to the individual, exceptional circumstances relating to COVID-19
• If you request a deferral, even if it's refused, this won't impact on how Ofsted views your school on inspection

24 November 2021: consultation on Ofsted's role in quality assurance of online education providers

• Ofsted has launched a consultation seeking views on how it should quality assure full-time online education providers (private organisations and companies that offer online teaching for pupils unable to attend school, or pupils whose parents have privately arranged for it)
• The consultation will run until 11.45pm on 26 January 2022, and will inform Ofsted's plans and draft handbook before the accreditation scheme launches in 2022
• Questions are about:
• Suitability checks, and for which providers
• Assessing the quality of leadership in online providers
• Assessing methods of delivering online education
• Assessing cyber security arrangements in online providers
• Read more about the accreditation scheme for online education providers and Ofsted's discussion around the need for it

10 June 2021: Ofsted publishes review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges

Ofsted's findings (taken from visits to 32 schools and colleges, and conversations with over 900 pupils) include:

• For some children, incidents of sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are so common they see no point in reporting them
• 92% of girls and 74% of boys reported that they or their peers experience sexist name-calling
• Sexual violence typically occurs in unsupervised spaces outside of school, though some girls also experience unwanted touching in school corridors
• Children and young people (especially girls) don't want to talk about sexual abuse, even when their school encourages them to
• Pupils are rarely positive about the RSE they receive

The report includes recommendations for schools, multi-agency safeguarding partners, and the government.

Ofsted says it will:

• Update inspection handbooks for further education providers to include the same references to peer-on-peer sexual abuse as the current School Inspection Handbook
• Provide further training for inspectors on inspecting safeguarding in education settings
• Ask further education providers to supply records and analysis of sexual harassment and violence (this already happens in schools)
• Hold discussions with single-sex groups of pupils, where this helps understand the approach to tackling sexual harassment and violence in a school or college

19 Apr 2021: updated inspection handbooks and guidance

School Inspection Handbook

The main changes include:

• References to the pandemic throughout, including the impact on schools and safety measures during inspection
• A new section on ‘Inspection during the COVID-19 pandemic’ in paragraphs 7 to 37
• The removal of the outstanding exemption in paragraphs 47 to 56
• Relationships and sex education in paragraphs in 250 to 255

See Ofsted's summary of all the changes.

Section 8 school inspection handbook

The main changes include:

• References to the COVID-19 pandemic, including safety measures
• The removal of the outstanding exemption in paragraphs 1, 4 and 41 to 49
• New paragraphs (133 and 167) on discussions with the headteacher

See Ofsted's summary of all the changes.

Early years inspection handbook

The main changes include:

• References to the COVID-19 pandemic, including instances of staff or children self-isolating
• A new section on ‘Inspection during the COVID-19 pandemic’ in paragraphs 6 to 26
• The move from inspection cycle to window in paragraphs 27 to 36

See Ofsted's summary of all the changes.

Independent schools inspection handbook

The main changes include:

• A new section on ‘Inspection during the COVID-19 pandemic’ 
• Updated sections on ‘Relationships and sex education’ and ‘Inspecting teaching of the protected characteristics’ in light of the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic
• Clarification on the impact on judgements if inspectors are prevented from talking to pupils on inspection (in the 'Safeguarding' section from paragraph 292)
• Removal of the criterion relating to compliance with the independent school standards (ISS) from the overall effectiveness grade descriptors

See Ofsted's summary of all the changes.

Initial teacher education (ITE) inspection framework and handbook

The main changes include:

• A new section on ‘Inspection during the COVID-19 pandemic’ in paragraphs 40 to 45
• New references to the point-of-inspection trainee and staff surveys that are introduced under the new framework in paragraphs 77 and 80

See Ofsted's summary of all the changes.

Updated Ofsted guidance

Ofsted has also updated its guidance on routine Ofsted inspections in autumn 2021 for maintained schools and academies to reflect changes made, including:

• The removal of the 'outstanding' exemption
• Taking into account the pandemic and the disruption it has caused to schools
• New timescales: Ofsted will send the draft report to schools within 18 working days of the end of the inspection (previously it was 10 working days); as before, you'll still have 5 working days to comment on the draft; Ofsted will then send the final report within 30 working days of the end of the inspection (previously it was 25 working days)

Ofsted has also updated its guidance on new schools and schools that undergo significant changes to reflect:

• The removal of the 'outstanding' exemption 
• That due to disruptions caused by the pandemic, most schools will receive an inspection about a year and a term after it would have otherwise taken place

27 Jan 2021: pupil motivation for remote learning is a 'significant concern', Ofsted study finds

Ofsted has published a report on remote learning, which has found that parents and school leaders are significantly concerned about pupils' motivation and engagement. The report also highlights areas of development for leaders to focus on in the spring term, like feedback and assessment.

Read the full study here.