School policies: what Ofsted is looking for

Ofsted inspectors won't grade your school's policies, but they'll want to know how it's implementing them. Find out what inspectors would want to see from your school.

Last reviewed on 24 April 2026See updates
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Contents
  1. Inspectors want to see school policies that demonstrate 'normal' practice
  2. Ofsted will inspect mobile phone policies
  3. Ofsted will focus on implementation

As always, your role is a strategic one. You need to review your school's policies and ask questions to make sure they're effective. Your role isn't to write or implement policies yourself.

Inspectors want to see school policies that demonstrate 'normal' practice

During an inspection, Ofsted inspectors will look at documents that:

  • Relate to your school's statutory requirements
  • Your school produces as part of normal business practice

This can include relevant school policies. 

Ofsted doesn't require policies to be presented in any specific format, or for your school to produce policy documents specifically for inspection. They just need to be easily accessible.

This is set out on page 2 of the State-funded Schools Inspection Toolkit.

This means that you aren't required to do any extra work to prepare school policies for Ofsted beyond your usual role in reviewing policies. Use our policy bank to make sure your school has all the statutory policies in place