Skip to content
13 April 2026

Tag: inspection

Ofsted: Councils won’t get heads-up on ‘inadequate’ judgements

Ofsted will no longer notify local authorities of provisional inadequate judgements of their maintained schools and academies. But the decision has been met with opposition from the Local Government Association (LGA), which warns schools need immediate support. The schools watchdog released updated guidance for schools and early education today. Ofsted provides early notification of provisional […]

Ofsted’s 2020-21 annual report and accounts: 8 things we learned

Ofsted has published its corporate annual report and accounts, laying bare how the watchdog’s work has changed in an unprecedented year in which most of its functions were scaled back. The document focuses on the inspectorate’s performance, and is not the same as the official annual report to Parliament each year, which focuses on inspection […]

School drops sports course questioned by Ofsted

A Liverpool school has dropped a controversial sports science qualification that Ofsted said might not be in the pupils’ “best interests”. St Francis Xavier’s College, one of ten schools found not to be providing effective education during the pandemic, said it decided to drop the course before the inspectors’ visit. A monitoring inspection conducted in […]

Chris Russell to replace Sean Harford as Ofsted’s national education director

Ofsted is to name Chris Russell as its new national director of education, replacing Sean Harford, Schools Week has learned. The watchdog revealed last month that Harford will leave at the end of August this year after deciding to take early retirement. Russell is currently Ofsted’s regional director for the south east, having previously held […]

Ofsted national education director Sean Harford to take early retirement

Ofsted’s national director of education Sean Harford is to stand down from his role to take early retirement, the watchdog has announced. Harford has worked at Ofsted since 2003, initially as a Her Majesty’s Inspector and then in a number of management roles. He has been in his current role since 2015, and was national […]

Ofsted branded ‘disingenuous’ over wellbeing review

Ofsted’s pledge to review whether inspections are affecting staff wellbeing has been branded “disingenuous” after it emerged that no new action is actually being taken. The Department for Education and Ofsted made 12 commitments under an education staff wellbeing charter published this week to help “protect” the mental health of school staff. One of Ofsted’s […]

Ofsted inspectors to have Covid tests before visiting schools

Ofsted inspectors will take Covid-19 tests before carrying out on-site monitoring visits later this month, the watchdog has announced. The inspectorate’s new ‘supportive’ monitoring visits will begin from January 18, despite partial school closures having been enacted last week. We are arranging a testing programme, which will enable inspectors to take a test before face-to-face […]

‘We are not convinced’ – leaders’ union ASCL won’t back #PauseOfsted campaign

The Association of School and College Leaders will not back calls for school staff to stop working as Ofsted inspectors because its leaders are “not convinced” it’s the best way forward. The #PauseOfsted campaign, launched by Headteachers’ Roundtable chair Stephen Tierney at the think tank’s annual conference last week, calls for those working part-time as […]