What's changed in the 2024 Ofsted School Inspection Handbook? September Update

Last updated: 16th September 2024

On 16th September 2024, Ofsted updated both the School Inspection Handbook and the School Monitoring Handbook so that these key documents are in line with the announcements following Ofsted's big listen. 

We've summarised the key changes, both big and small, so you can keep up to date with the latest updates to the Ofsted inspection handbooks in 2024.

 

Graded inspections of state-funded schools will no longer include an overall effectiveness grade

This means that for any school inspected from September 2024 onwards, you won't see an overall grade next to a school's name when their inspection report goes live on Ofsted's website.

For schools who were graded as good or outstanding before September 2024, the overall grading they received will still show on Ofsted's website and on their own inspection reports (paragraph 39). They can also still use Ofsted's logos (paragraph 187) to promote the judgement they've received. Schools who are inspected during 2024-2025 may use Ofsted's logo unless they have been judged to have a serious weakness or require special measures (paragraph 188). Ofsted indicate they'll be updating their logo terms of use information soon.

Key question: For schools who are inspected after September 2024, how does the inspection cycle work if they don't receive an overall grading?

 

Ofsted have clarified that this will be determined when the new inspection framework is in place in September 2025.

 

Clarification on the difference between graded and ungraded inspections

While schools will no longer receive an overall grading for effectiveness, graded inspections still exist. These inspections are carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 and schools will be graded on the four key judgements - quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management - as well as any early years foundation stage or sixth-form provision that they may have (paragraph 2).

Ungraded inspections are still carried our under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. As it was prior to the updates, these inspections do not grade any area; instead, they focus on whether the school has "taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection." (paragraph 3). 

 

Key question: Will my school now get a graded or ungraded inspection?

Paragraphs 53-57 of the School Inspection Handbook set out what type of inspection a school is likely to get in the 2024-25 academic year.

• Schools graded as requires improvement or inadequate before September 2024 will still receive a graded inspection (paragraph 53).
• "Many" schools judged as good or outstanding before September 2024 will receive an ungraded inspection (paragraph 55).
• Note that an ungraded inspection can still convert to a graded inspection if inspectors find areas of serious weakness (see paragraphs 219-223 for more details).
• Urgent inspections can still be carried out at any time regardless of previous gradings. More detail can be found in paragraph 57.

 

You'll get the Ofsted phone call on a Monday only*

Unless one of the criteria below is met, Ofsted will call your setting on a Monday after 9:30 am and before 2:00 pm (paragraphs 87 and 491), thus giving a much clearer answer to the question: "When will I get the Ofsted phone call?" This means that schools get half a day's notice of an Ofsted inspection.

Be aware that the following also apply*:

• Schools can still be notified of an urgent or monitoring inspection on any day, the day before it takes place, between 9:30am and 2:00pm.
• Additionally, Ofsted reserve the right to carry out an urgent inspection any day without notice. If this occurs, Ofsted will telephone the school 15 minutes prior to arrival (paragraph 492).
• If a school has been notified of an inspection that is subsequently deferred, we can notify that school of the new inspection date on any day of the week (paragraph 87).
• On weeks containing a bank holiday Monday, Ofsted will call on a Tuesday (paragraph 87).

 

New 'suspend and return' policy for the safeguarding elements of an inspection

Ofsted will still inspect safeguarding and in cases where inspectors consider safeguarding to be ineffective, one of three things can happen (paragraph 412):

1. For schools where one or more other judgements would be graded as requires improvement or inadequate, the inspection will conclude and note that safeguarding is also ineffective.
2. For schools where all other judgements would be good or outstanding, inspectors will consider whether there is capacity for the school to improve the identified safeguarding issues within 3 months. If they believe the school has this capacity, they will suspend the inspection and return within 3 months. The school must agree to this suspension and inform parents via a letter. In these cases, the inspection will not be classified as concluded until Ofsted return. 
3. For schools where all other judgements would be good or outstanding but inspectors do not believe there is a "realistic prospect" that leaders can resolve the safeguarding issues, the inspection will conclude and the school will be judged to have a serious weakness (see paragraph 169 for further details).

 

Clarification on requirements for the Single Central Record (SCR)

Paragraph 395 clarifies that inspectors will always refer to Part 3 (safer recruitment) of the latest Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) when inspecting the Single Central Record.

It's important to note that the SCR must cover all staff (including members and trustees for academy trusts) even if they only work for one day. Maintained schools must maintain an SCR of pre-employment checks, either electronically or in paper form. For academies, there is no requirement to maintain an individual record for each academy, but the information should be stored so that details about each academy school can be provided separately.

Paragraph 395 also clarifies what inspectors will look for on the SCR during both graded and ungraded inspections.

• an identity check
• a standalone children’s barred list check
• an enhanced DBS check (with children’s barred list check) (either requested or certificate provided)
• a prohibition from teaching check
• further checks on people who have lived or worked outside the UK
• a check of professional qualifications, where required
• a check to establish the person’s right to work in the UK
• for academies and free schools, if the section 128 checks have been carried out for those in management positions

The SCR must indicate the date when each check was completed or when the certificate was obtained.

Paragraph 396 goes on to state that Ofsted will inspect safeguarding beyond solely viewing documents in the SCR and will triangulate evidence gathered elsewhere to evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding.

 

Changes to the School Monitoring Handbook 

The Schools Monitoring Handbook sets out how schools in a 'category of concern' (see paragraph 29-24 for further details) or those who have a requires improvement or inadequate grading for at least one of the key or provision (e.g. EYFS, sixth form) judgement areas. This has been updated to fall in line with the changes made to the School Inspection Handbook.

School leaders who are in this position may wish to read the updated School Monitoring Handbook in full.

 

Other minor changes

• Clarification has been given around qualifying complaints (i.e. where a complaint along with other evidence could warrant an urgent inspection) and how inspectors will not investigate the circumstances of, or come to any conclusions about, the complaint. They will also not follow up on complaints received before the inspection nor will they use the complaint itself to form a judgement, although they will use evidence they find during the inspection to form their judgement (paragraph 22, 501).
• Ofsted are not planning on carrying out aligned inspections for boarding or residential special schools in the 2024-25 academic year, unless circumstances are exceptional (paragraph 76).
• Minor clarifications have been given around what will be discussed between inspectors and school leaders during the end-of-day team meetings (paragraph 100) and during the educationally-focused conversation that forms part of the Ofsted phone call.
• A minor clarification to the EYFS 'Good' grade descriptor (paragraph 478) which amends the wording in one of the bullets to state "The school is ambitious for all children, including disadvantaged children, which includes those with SEND."
• The wording in an inspection report around whether a school in special measures can appoint an ECT has been clarified. For maintained schools, it will state "The school may / may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection." For academies, it'll state either, "Having considered the evidence, we are of the opinion that the school may appoint early career teachers" or, "We strongly recommend that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers." (paragraphs 171-173)
• Minor changes have been made to bring information about complaints about Ofsted inspectors in line with the deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.
• Some references to the COVID-19 pandemic have been removed in relation to maintained nursery schools.
• References to how Ofsted analyses its risk assessment have been removed as the information is available in full in their 'Risk assessment methodology for good state-funded schools' information.

 

That summarises the September 2024 updates to the Ofsted School Inspection Handbook. While on the surface they may seem large (such as the removal of overall gradings), we think that the impact for you on the ground will be minimal this year if you're in the inspection cycle.

As always, if you're seeking support with any Ofsted-related, we're here to help.

Previous updates to the School Inspection Handbook - 5th April 2024

If you didn't catch the Ofsted updates from April 2024, we've summarised them briefly here: