Keeping your governors Ofsted-ready: a guide for chairs

As chair of governors, you’ll want to be confident that when Ofsted arrives, your board has everything under control. Find a handy list of resources you can share with your governors and get some tips on making the best use of GovernorHub to stay organised.

Last reviewed on 11 February 2026
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 46120
Contents
  1. Model a calm and reassuring approach
  2. Make sure everyone is up-to-date with recent changes
  3. Explain how governors will typically be involved
  4. Run a question and answer session
  5. Make the best use of GovernorHub features

Model a calm and reassuring approach

Facing an inspection with confidence isn’t about preparing lots of additional paperwork, or worrying about granular detail. Model a calm and positive attitude with your governors, so they can see that inspection doesn’t need to be stressful, or something they should be worried about. Regularly make it clear that:

  • Providing effective challenge and support all year round is the best way to prepare for an inspection –  governors should never need to do anything different in order to be Ofsted-ready
  • If governors know the school and their link areas well, they have nothing to worry about

Make sure everyone is up-to-date with recent changes

Our summary of Ofsted's latest updates Tip: select 'save for later' in the top right of the article to be notified when anything