inspections | Schools Week

Treasury marks DfE’s 11,500-word homework laying out its vision

The Department for Education has published an 11,590-word “outcome delivery plan,” detailing the wide-ranging goals and performance metrics it agreed with the Treasury last year to justify its funding. Sector leaders welcomed the move to greater transparency and accountability. But they said the DfE’s plan lacked detail overall and lacked metrics in significant areas, including […]

Ofsted pilot to look at whether framework ‘tweaks’ are needed ahead of full inspections

Ofsted will conduct “full” on-site inspections at about 25 schools over the next fortnight to assess whether its framework needs to be tweaked ahead of a return to graded inspections in September. Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector, revealed this week that full inspections would not return until the new academic year. The watchdog will instead […]

Ofsted monitoring inspections find all schools taking ‘effective action’, but verdict ‘limited’

The first batch of letters published following new remote Ofsted monitoring inspections found that all schools were “taking effective action” to educate pupils during the pandemic. But the watchdog admits within each of the 41 reports released so far that they provide only “a more limited level of assurance” than usual monitoring inspections. The admission […]

Ofsted monitoring inspections paused for week of schools’ return

Ofsted will pause its remote monitoring inspections for the week beginning March 8 to allow schools to focus on wider reopening. The watchdog has been carrying out remote monitoring visits since January in place of routine in-person inspections, which have been suspended during the pandemic. But the inspectorate has updated its guidance this afternoon to […]

Ofsted annual report 2019-20: 8 things we learned

Ofsted has published its latest annual report following a “year of two halves” which saw inspections halted around six months after the launch of its new inspection framework. The report highlights that the judgment profile for schools remains “broadly stable” following the introduction of the new framework, with 86 per cent rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. […]