What Is Ofsted? School Inspections Explained for Parents

Ofsted is England's school inspection body. It visits state-funded schools, rates their overall effectiveness on a four-point scale and publishes a free public report. The grade tells you how inspectors judged the school at a specific moment — not a permanent verdict.

What does Ofsted stand for and what does it do?

Ofsted stands for the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills. It is a non-ministerial government department that independently inspects and regulates education and care services in England. For schools, its core job is to evaluate how well children are being educated, how safe they are and how well the school is led and managed.

Ofsted inspects all state-funded schools in England: local authority maintained schools, academies and free schools. It does not routinely inspect independent (fee-paying) schools — those are covered by a separate inspection framework under the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) or Ofsted's Independent Schools Inspection unit. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own inspection bodies (Education Scotland, Estyn and ETI respectively).

What are the Ofsted inspection grades?

Since 2005 Ofsted has used a four-point scale. The 2024 framework retains numeric grades for overall effectiveness.

Grade | Label | Plain-English meaning
1 | Outstanding | Exceptional provision; rare — around 3% of schools hold this grade
2 | Good | Meeting expectations well; the majority of schools fall here
3 | Requires Improvement | Not yet good; the school must improve within an agreed timescale
4 | Inadequate | Serious concerns; the school enters special measures or receives a Section 8 re-inspection

A school judged Outstanding is typically inspected only if concerns are raised — which is why some Outstanding ratings are decades old and may not reflect the current reality.

Note: from 2023 Ofsted piloted a new "report card" approach to replace single overall grades with a dashboard of scores across multiple areas. As of 2026 the full roll-out is ongoing — check the Ofsted website for the latest framework position before drawing conclusions from older reports.

What happens during an Ofsted inspection?

Most state school inspections are unannounced or give only one working day's notice. A typical inspection lasts one to two days and involves:

Deep dives — inspectors observe lessons, speak to pupils and review pupils' work in a sample of subjects

Leadership meetings — conversations with the headteacher and senior leaders about curriculum intent and implementation

Safeguarding checks — inspectors always scrutinise child protection records and policies, regardless of the school's overall grade

Pupil and parent voice — inspectors read Parent View survey results (which parents submit online before and during the inspection) and speak directly with pupils

Staff discussions — focus groups with teachers to understand workload and professional development

Inspectors judge four headline areas (under the current Education Inspection Framework): Quality of Education, Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, and Leadership and Management. Safeguarding is a separate judgement that can override everything else.

How do I find my child's school report?

All published Ofsted reports are free to read on the Ofsted website at reports.ofsted.gov.uk. You can search by school name or postcode. The most recent report appears first, with its publication date clearly shown. Older reports are also archived.

When reading a report, pay attention to:

Publication date — a five-year-old report may not reflect the current leadership or staff

Safeguarding judgement — this is always significant; any concern here is a serious signal

Specific paragraphs on SEND — if your child has additional needs, the SEND commentary is more useful than the headline grade

What does it mean if a school is in special measures?

A school judged Inadequate and placed in special measures is required to accept support from an academy sponsor or a Government-appointed National School Improvement Lead. It will be re-inspected approximately every six months. Schools typically have up to three years to improve before further intervention. A school that reaches Good at a monitoring inspection exits special measures.

If your child attends a school in special measures, it does not necessarily mean you should move them — some schools improve very quickly under new leadership. Ask the school what their improvement plan is and review the monitoring letters published on the Ofsted website.

How often are schools inspected?

Under the current framework, the inspection frequency depends on the school's previous grade:

Previous grade | Typical gap before next inspection
Outstanding (old framework) | Could be 10+ years (exempt until 2023 rule change)
Good | Approximately every 4 years
Requires Improvement | Within 30 months
Inadequate / Special Measures | Every 6 months (monitoring visits)

As of 2022, all previously exempt Outstanding schools returned to the inspection cycle. Many have since received their first inspection in over a decade.

Can parents request an inspection?

Parents cannot directly commission an inspection, but Ofsted does act on concerns. If you have serious concerns about a school, you can submit information via the Ofsted website's "Raise a concern" form. Ofsted cannot investigate complaints about individual decisions (those go to the school or the local authority) but it does consider patterns of concern when deciding whether to bring forward a scheduled inspection.

Parents can also submit a review at any time via Ofsted Parent View (parentview.ofsted.gov.uk), which inspectors consult during every inspection.

Frequently asked questions

Does an Outstanding grade mean a school is definitely the best choice for my child?

Not necessarily. An Outstanding grade reflects what inspectors found on inspection day, which may have been several years ago. Leadership, staffing and culture can change substantially. It is worth reading the full report, checking the date, visiting the school in person and speaking to other local parents before drawing conclusions from the grade alone.

What is the difference between a Section 5 and a Section 8 inspection?

A Section 5 inspection is a full inspection that results in one of the four grades. A Section 8 inspection is a shorter monitoring or focused inspection — typically used for schools already judged Outstanding (to check they still meet the threshold) or for schools that require interim monitoring. Section 8 inspections do not by themselves change the overall Ofsted grade.

Does Ofsted inspect independent schools?

Ofsted inspects some registered independent schools, but the majority of well-known independent schools are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), which uses a different framework and grading vocabulary. If you are researching an independent school, check whether its reports appear on the Ofsted site or the ISI site (isinspect.org.uk).

What is Ofsted Parent View and how do I use it?

Parent View is Ofsted's online survey (parentview.ofsted.gov.uk) where parents and carers can share views on their child's school at any time. During an inspection, inspectors specifically review the submitted responses. You can log in with a free account and submit your views — your response is anonymous and can influence what inspectors focus on.

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