OFSTED has reviewed and updated its inspection framework and handbooks for 2022, with the changes taking effect from the start of the new academic year.

In a blog post by Chris Russell, National Director of Education, he discusses the changes in detail and why they have been made.

Here are the main changes to be aware of:

Impact of COVID-19

OFSTED acknowledged that the impact of COVID-19 ‘continues to have an impact on early years settings, schools and further education providers, and is likely to affect how they make decisions for some time’. However, it was also said that ‘education providers are moving on from an emergency response to the pandemic and returning to more usual ways of working’. To reflect this, relevant paragraphs regarding temporary measures have been incorporated into the main sections of each handbook, making it clear that inspectors will continue to take account of issues faced by providers.

Transitional Arrangements

The Transitional Arrangements have now been removed from the updated handbooks. The arrangements were originally planned to remain in place until September 2020, but were extended in response to the pandemic. In its place, a new grade descriptor has been added to the quality of education judgement.

The change does not mean that schools and FE (Further Education) providers will now be expected to every single handbook criterion to keep the ‘Good’ grade. Inspectors will continue to judge based on the best-fit approach set out in the handbook. Whereas providers will still be evaluated considering their pupils’ and learners’ needs.

Graded and ungraded inspections

Section 5 inspections are now referred to as ‘graded inspections’ and Section 8 inspections of good and outstanding schools will be called ‘ungraded inspections. The name was changed to promote “a better understanding of the types of inspection Ofsted conducts and why, especially among parents”.

Only colleges to be judged on meeting skills needs

From September, Ofsted will enhance its inspections of further education colleges, sixth form colleges and designated institutions. They confirmed that its evaluation will include “sub-judgement on the college’s contribution to meeting skills needs”, which is “linked to and dependant on the quality of education and leadership and management key judgements”. Inspections will judge the college’s contribution to skills needs: limited; reasonable; or strong.

To read the full article published by GOV.UK, click here