New Ofsted inspections of multi-academy trusts are not likely to begin until 2028, the inspectorate has revealed. The government previously said MAT inspections were not expected to begin before the 2027-28 academic year. Speaking at the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) annual conference in Birmingham, Matthew Purves, national director of Ofsted academy, said the timeframe for the roll-out is “not confirmed”. But he said “it might be reasonable to assume” the new inspections will begin in 2028. The DfE pledged in its schools white paper to create new “trust standards” by “overhauling the school trust quality descriptions”. “We will build on the current pillars to emphasise the importance of standards, inclusion, value for money and contributing willingly to community collaboration,” it said, adding that the standards “will draw on the most transformational sector practice” and help “shar[e] excellence”. Purves said the DfE “have a process to complete with their trust standards and their regulations before Ofsted then fully begin our work on inspection”. “What the DfE have said, publicly and very sensibly, is that multi-academy trust inspection won’t commence before academic year 2027-28. “And so it might be reasonable to assume that we’re heading towards something later in 2028.” Schools Week has approached the DfE on when the new trust standards are expected. Inspection plans still unclear Purves was leading a session at the CST conference on MAT inspections and how they might look. But he made it clear the inspectorate is still exploring ideas. Tracy Fielding, Ofsted’s deputy director for schools and early education, said the inspectorate is looking to the academies sector for input on how inspections should take shape. “We’ve sat in rooms since January thinking about and talking to the DfE about aspects,” she said. “But what we really need is your collaboration and your input.” “Things like being online, being on-site. Do we visit schools? Do we come out to trust headquarters? What do we do? We want to know from you.” Senior HMI Jeremy Spencer said Ofsted will “engage with the sector more as we go forward”. He said Ofsted’s research team is “working flat out…to pull all we know about inspection of multi-academy trusts and larger organisations together”. “As soon as we see the trust standards, what they look like, we can start shaping those conversations and getting out more frequently to work with you.” Inspector recruitment campaign Spencer added that Ofsted is keen to recruit more inspectors and peer inspectors with MAT backgrounds, to help deliver MAT inspections. “We will be drawing very much from the sector, he said. He said a new recruitment campaign is expected to launch after Christmas, “where we’ll be specifically advertising for school inspectors, but with that MAT expertise as well alongside it”. “You are the leaders in this system. You’ve got the skills. You’re immersed in it every day, and we desperately need you to work alongside us to build something quite spectacular in the mat inspection framework.” He said Ofsted will also be piloting MAT inspections, when “honest feedback” from trusts “will be essential”. ‘Exceptional practice’ Purves said the inspections will both capture “exceptional practice” and identify areas for improvement. “There isn’t, at the moment, a systematic national routine way of capturing that exceptional practice…and reporting on that regularly,” he said. “We need to identify strong trust that can partner with others. We need to provide that information to to the DfE and to their regional teams, and help trust identify areas for improvement”. He also stressed inspections must be “empathetic” and “sensible”. “We as Ofsted need the humility to understand that we are not doing the day-to-day education,” he said. “So our job is to provide that accountability in the most empathetic way that we can, the most sensible way that we can, the way that minimises burden to the greatest possible extent and realises that the real work is done by staff, with children.” But leaders in the room commented on the lack of specific detail currently available on what MAT inspections will entail, and told Schools Week they are anxious for information. Challenges ahead At a separate panel event, CEOs discussed the challenges Ofsted could face. Lift Schools CEO Becks Boomer-Clark said she is “not yet convinced, but I’m open to being convinced” that MAT inspections will lead to “something that is any more illuminating than the aggregation of individual schools’ inspection outcomes”. “I just see all of the challenges of actually being able to create a framework that is actually able to accurately respond to the levels of diversity that exist across trusts,” she said. She also queried how Ofsted will find the staff to carry out inspections with consistency and validity. “Do we want to, in a world of limited resources, commit them to MAT inspections?” Meanwhile Woodard Academies Trust CEO Mike Pettifer said: “I can see it going two ways. “A good inspection is where you have experienced people who are able to use their professional judgement and experience to come to a decision and a grade. “If you get that sort of inspectorate group then I can see it being quite helpful. “If you get a group of people who haven’t got that diversity of experience and they don’t have the expertise necessary… then you kind of hid in a checklist and it becomes a tick-box exercise.”