Ofsted: latest updates

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Stay up to date with all things Ofsted, including plans to review teachers' professional development and to inspect all schools by summer 2025.

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Contents

  1. 26 April 2022: Ofsted announces strategy for 2022 to 2027
  2. 28 March 2022: DfE launches consultation on supporting schools not making necessary improvements
  3. 20 January 2022: Ofsted aims to have a full team of inspectors again from 31 January
  4. 4 January 2022: Ofsted encourages "significantly impacted" schools to request deferrals
  5. 9 December 2021: inspections cancelled next week
  6. 2 December 2021: clarification on deferrals during COVID-19
  7. 24 November 2021: consultation on Ofsted's role in quality assurance of online education providers
  8. 17 November 2021: Ofsted to inspect all schools by summer 2025
  9. 22 September 2021: Ofsted will review tutoring and teachers’ professional development
  10. 10 June 2021: Ofsted publishes review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges
  11. 19 Apr 2021: updated inspection handbooks and guidance
  12. 29 Mar 2021: onsite monitoring inspections in the summer term
  13. 17 Mar 2021: no routine, graded inspections until autumn
  14. 24 Feb 2021: monitoring inspections to continue remotely for the rest of the spring term
  15. 15 Feb 2021: remote monitoring inspections after half term will last 1 day, not 2
  16. 2 Feb 2021: remote inspections to continue until 8 March at the earliest
  17. 21 Jan 2021: remote monitoring inspections will focus on your education offer during coronavirus, but not school improvement 
  18. 13 Jan 2021: Ofsted announces remote monitoring inspections
  19. 11 Jan 2021: Ofsted announces return of non-graded monitoring inspections, and publishes remote learning best practice guidance 
  20. Oct 2020: Ofsted to remove the 'outstanding' exemption
  21. Jul 20: Ofsted will carry out 'visits, not inspections'

26 April 2022: Ofsted announces strategy for 2022 to 2027

The new strategy builds on Ofsted's previous emphasis on the curriculum and pupils' learning, and takes the impact of the pandemic into account.

Headlines include:

  • Allowing more time to gather evidence during inspections
  • Evaluating the performance of its inspection frameworks, including the education inspection framework (EIF)
  • A stronger focus on early years
  • A tougher stance on safeguarding and pupil welfare, including unregistered settings and harmful sexual behaviour
  • MAT inspections and more summary evaluations
  • More research and analysis, including into MATs and alternative provision (AP)
  • Reaching out to the wider society, including those who might not be as familiar with Ofsted's work
  • Diversifying and expanding its workforce, including developing a knowledge of MATs

Read Ofsted's strategy for 2022-27 for more detail.

28 March 2022: DfE launches consultation on supporting schools not making necessary improvements

The Department for Education (DfE) proposes to introduce a new intervention measure from September 2022, which

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