Further consultation on Ofsted short inspections

Ofsted is running a further consultation on proposals to change the short inspection process. This follows on from the Short inspections of good schools, the initial consultation that ran between 15 June and 18 August 2017.

Ofsted are now seeking views on the following proposals:

• Where there are serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, inspectors will continue to convert short inspections to a full inspection, usually within 48 hours.

• Where inspectors are not completely confident that the school would receive its current grade following a section 5 inspection, Ofsted will publish a letter setting out the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. A section 5 inspection will still follow, but “typically within 1-2 years”. This is the case where: 
  • Inspectors feel the school is no longer meeting the requirements for ‘good’, but the standard of education remains acceptable and there are no safeguarding or behaviour concerns. This will give schools time to address any weaknesses and seek support.
  • Inspectors feel the school may be improving to ‘outstanding’. This is to give schools time to consolidate strong practice (in this scenario, requests for earlier inspections will be considered).

If approved, these changes would take effect from January 2018.

Full details of the proposals are set out in the Short inspections of good schools: maintained schools and academies document.

The consultation period closes at 23:45 on 8 November 2017.