Ofsted today announced that it is piloting a new way of involving
more serving education leaders in the inspections of schools and
further education providers.
Inspections already bring together
the expertise of Ofsted's full-time His Majesty's
Inspectors (HMI) and the real-time
sector knowledge of contracted Ofsted
Inspectors (OIs). This new pilot is exploring
how Ofsted can enhance that crucial blend with even
more shared insight into the context, challenges and
day-to-day realities providers face, and how inspection can
support improvement.
This is part of Ofsted's commitment to making sure
inspection teams include people with relevant,
sector‑specific experience, who are best placed to
understand the part of the system they are inspecting.
Currently, most OIs join
Ofsted as individuals and their interaction with other
OIs and HMI is largely limited to their
inspection work. While this has worked well for inspection, it
can restrict chances for two-way professional reflection and
shared learning. The pilot is developing structured engagement
opportunities for OIs,
provided by the Ofsted Academy, to help
forge an even deeper and more enduring connection between Ofsted
and the education sector.
The scheme, which is already underway, involves OIs joining Ofsted as groups of peers
drawn from the professional organisations and networks they're
already part of, such as multi-academy trusts, local authorities,
dioceses, local school networks, independent learning providers
and general further education colleges.
OIs recruited in this
way will form a professional community with each other
and with HMI. Ofsted will ensure
they have regular opportunities to share
feedback collectively and to reflect on
what they're seeing and learning day-to-day. Their
experiences will then feed directly into how Ofsted
continuously improves inspection.
Announcing the pilot at the Association of School and
College Leaders Annual Conference this morning, His
Majesty's Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn
Oliver, said:
I'm really excited about this pilot. It means we can
bring in current sector insight in a more systemic way. It means
more people in the sector, inspecting the sector. Even more
colleagues who understand what it means to lead a school through
challenges, to make the difficult calls you all make every
day.
I know there are thousands of you who want to be inspectors. And
I want to bring in as many people from the sector as possible! It
is a chance for you to give back to the system, to shape how
inspection works, to carry your expertise into schools and
providers across the country. I believe this should be part of
every leader's journey. So join us.
I want to make inspection more collaborative than ever before. We
should work together to challenge each other in the interests
of children and learners and to keep raising standards.
While this is a new route into the role with
increased opportunities for professional
engagement, OIs
recruited through the pilot will continue to be trained
to the same high standards as existing OIs and will carry out the same
inspection work.
Under this new model, there is no separate inspection
fee. Instead, Ofsted will contribute to employers' costs
so that staff can become an OI as part
of their professional development pathway. Ofsted is also
developing additional learning and development opportunities to
complement inspection training and make sure becoming an OI
offers clear professional value for participants and their
employers.
The first participants in the pilot began inspector
training in January and are currently taking part in
shadow inspections. They are
expected to be ready to participate in
live inspections later this term,
with further cohorts to begin training later in
the year. The pilot will continue throughout 2026 and
feedback from participants will help inform how Ofsted recruit
OIs in the
future.
Ofsted is also exploring whether a similar
approach can be adopted across early years and social
care inspection.
