Ofsted has announced routine inspections of NPQ providers will be paused until next academic year, while the government reviews the qualifications.
The inspectorate announced the pause this morning on its website, saying: “The secretary of state for education has requested that we pause our routine inspections of national professional qualifications for the remainder of the academic year 2025-26.”
The pause “is to align with the Department for Education’s NPQ review and the launch of the early career teacher entitlement (ECTE) in September 2025.” it said.
The government announced in January it would be reviewing NPQ frameworks with help from an expert panel of sector leaders.
The ECTE, which launched in September, replaced the former early career framework (ECF) programme. The two-year programme supports early career teachers (ECTs) when they start out in the profession.
During this pause, Ofsted says it “will redevelop the current early career framework (ECF) and NPQ inspection framework to bring it into line with the renewed approach to other education inspections”.
Ofsted will then “begin engaging with the sector” on its proposed changes to NPQ inspections in spring 2026.
It comes as the watchdog recently overhauled its approach to school inspections. New-style “report card” inspections began on November 10, with inspections at volunteer schools. Routine state school inspections are to resume on Monday.
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