Ofsted

The latest news and analysis on the schools inspectorate in England, including inspection and curriculum policy and reports

Tuesday

14th Apr 2026

Former MAT director to lead on Ofsted trust inspections
Watchdog appoints Matthew Purves to take charge of £20m project to develop inspections of multi-academy trusts
Matthew Purves
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Thursday

9th Apr 2026

Why Ofsted’s ‘needs attention’ grade points to progress not failure
The sector needs to change how it views Ofsted grades under the new system, rather than falling into the old trap of success or failure, argues MAT leader Cathie Paine
Cathie Paine

Thursday

2nd Apr 2026

NEU boss warns of national industrial action to ‘save education’
The leader of England’s biggest teaching union threatens industrial action if the government does not provide ‘the funding our schools need’
Daniel Kebede

Tuesday

31st Mar 2026

High expectations doesn’t have to mean above-average grades
If we’re striving for more inclusion then having an accountability system that judges ‘achievement’ using national average outcomes is a problem, writes one MAT chief executive
Judges with scorecards

Friday

27th Mar 2026

Ofsted to inspect early years providers more often
Early education minister’s letter to chief inspector outlines new requirements for Ofsted, including the need to inspect every four years
Early years providers

Friday

20th Mar 2026

Disadvantaged schools more likely to be graded down on achievement
Heads in deprived areas warn that grades awarded by Ofsted for its new achievement category are ‘demoralising’ and fail to take their challenging circumstances into account
A person walking over a gap in the pavement
Exclusive

Tuesday

17th Mar 2026

How to support subject leaders with the new Ofsted framework
A school’s senior leaders must be closely aligned with subject heads when it comes to inspections – here is how best to support your team ahead of an Ofsted visit
Geese flying

Friday

13th Mar 2026

Ofsted recruits unpaid inspectors as part of pilot scheme
Inspectors recruited under the scheme will not get an inspection fee, with Ofsted instead contributing to their employers’ costs

Ofsted recruiting new unpaid inspectors
Ofsted chief will ‘not downplay’ disadvantaged schools’ outcomes
Analysis of the watchdog’s report card system has shown that disadvantaged schools may be ‘unfairly penalised’
Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted chief inspector

Thursday

12th Mar 2026

Red tape blocks school funding for children in care, finds Ofsted
Teachers tell the watchdog that working with different local authorities with different processes can be frustrating when trying to support vulnerable pupils
Funding blocked

Wednesday

11th Mar 2026

Ofsted rejects 9 in 10 complaints about schools
The vast majority of complaints that qualified for Ofsted investigation last year did not lead to an immediate inspection, watchdog says
Ofsted rejected nine in 10 complaints against schools in 2024-25

Friday

6th Mar 2026

Ofsted rejects 1 in 5 inspection deferral requests
Watchdog figures show 621 school inspections were deferred in 2024-25 and a further 37 were paused
Ofsted has approval all pause requests but rejected one in five deferral requests from schools.