Education lawyer responds to Ofsted’s updated school inspection handbook

Ofsted, the government organisation that inspects a range of institutions, has recently made changes to its school inspection handbook.

These changes follow Ofsted’s ‘Big Listen’, where the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills promised to hear feedback, to listen to criticism and to reform.

One key change to the handbook is that from this month (September 2024), graded Ofsted inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. Schools inspected from then will not have the same way of working out when to expect their next inspection as other schools.

Ofsted said it will set out the expected dates for when it will next inspect them from September 2025, clarifying that these schools should not expect to receive an ungraded or graded inspection before then. Some could receive an urgent or monitoring inspection, which can be deemed a graded inspection.

While schools will no longer receive an overall grading for effectiveness, graded inspections still exist. Ofsted said schools graded as requires improvement or inadequate before September 2024 will still receive a graded inspection (paragraph 53). The organisation also said some schools judged good and outstanding for overall effectiveness before September 2024 will receive a graded inspection, but many will receive an ungraded inspection instead.

A school judged good or outstanding for overall effectiveness before September 2024 may still receive an urgent inspection (carried out under section 8) at any time in certain circumstances, according to Ofsted.

Ofsted also said it will contact the school by telephone to announce a graded or ungraded inspection after 9.30am on a Monday morning. However, it did also make clear in paragraph 88 that it reserves the right to carry out a graded, ungraded or urgent inspection without notice. Where this is the case, the lead inspector will normally telephone the school about 15 minutes before arriving on site, the organisation said.

Responding to Ofsted’s updated handbook, Katie Michelon, partner at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson specialising in Ofsted inspections, said: “With significant public conversation surrounding the removal of single-phrase overall judgements, there may be some confusion amongst parents and school communities regarding the continuation, for now, of single-phrase judgements for the key judgement areas in the inspection framework.

“Given that we are still at least a year away from report cards and the complete eradication of such judgements, there’s a danger that, in this ‘halfway house’, more attention is paid to weaker judgements in individual judgement areas, regardless of whether or not this leads to intervention steps by the Department for Education.

“Therefore, it’s arguably more important than ever that schools proactively engage with their stakeholders, provide information and context regarding performance in different areas, explain steps being taken to address any accepted areas of weakness, and highlight those areas where they are excelling.

“By driving a more nuanced and sophisticated dialogue around inspection outcomes at this juncture, schools can facilitate the further changes ahead.”