Ofsted deferred or paused one in eight school inspections in the first full year of a new policy aimed at lessening its impact on leaders’ wellbeing, data suggests.
The current mechanism that allows school leaders to request an inspection be delayed or put on hold was introduced in January 2024, as part of a raft of reforms that responded to the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry.
New data released yesterday (Thursday) shows that between April 2024 and April 2025, more than 800 headteachers used the function, and requested their inspections be either paused or deferred.
Of the 786 schools that requested a deferral, 79 per cent (621) were accepted, while all 37 requests for a pause were accepted.
Schools Week analysis shows there were 5,117 school inspections over the same period. This suggests over 12 per cent were deferred or paused.
‘Exceptional circumstances’
Schools may request an inspection is deferred if it has not yet begun, or that it is paused, if it has already started.
Ofsted guidance says this will only be permitted in “exceptional circumstances”.
It lays out examples, which include where a senior leader’s wellbeing “would be severely impacted” and there is no other senior leader to step in.
Other examples include major incidents, such as the death of a child, closure due to a staff training day or weather, or if a school has recently converted to an academy.
The new data does not detail the reasons deferrals and pauses were requested.
A recent freedom of Information investigation by Schools Week revealed that as of January 2025, there had been 44 pauses of school inspections to date.
Ofsted declined to specify the reasons given, but following an internal review explained “a number of deferrals” had been granted where schools had closed due to “adverse weather events or issues with the premises”.
The reasons also included combinations of “medical procedures, illnesses, mental health, death and bereavement; the impact of serious crime, resignation and suspension of staff”, it said.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of leaders’ union ASCL, said: “Headteachers only ever request a pause or deferral to an inspection in extreme circumstances.”
“It’s obviously important that inspectors view schools as they would normally operate, and that school leaders have a fair opportunity to demonstrate the work that they do.
“Deferrals and pauses are necessary mechanisms in this regard, and we would hope Ofsted treats these requests sensitively and supportively wherever possible.”
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Our deferral and pausing policies are there to support school leaders when exceptional circumstances mean an inspection cannot go ahead, or it needs to be paused.
“We encourage schools to use this policy as they need to, in line with our guidance.”
Inspections deemed ‘incomplete’
This week’s Ofsted data also shows 61 school inspections were deemed “incomplete”, while additional evidence was gathered, in the 12 months up to April 2025.
This includes inspections deemed “incomplete” through quality assurance or complaints processes, as well inspections paused for more than five days, and those suspended under the “suspend and return policy”.
The policy was introduced in September 2024, and lets inspectors pause an inspection to allow a school to resolve safeguarding “where that is the only issue in the school”.
The data shows 18 state schools’ overall grades were changed following quality assurance processes in the five months between April and September 2024, when overall grades were abolished.
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