Following feedback from last year's Big Listen and the recent
consultation on inspection reform, Ofsted has today announced a
new structure for inspection teams in schools and further
education, focused on improving consistency.
The new team structure will make the best use of the
complementary skills and expertise of Ofsted's employed His
Majesty's Inspectors (HMI) and its contracted Ofsted inspectors
(OIs) – who are often serving practitioners in schools and
colleges.
The changes mean that following the introduction of the renewed
education inspection framework in November 2025:
- all schools and further education inspections will be led by
current His Majesty's Inspectors, or OIs with recent HMI
experience, drawing on their more in-depth inspection expertise
and training
- Ofsted will make the best use of OI's current sector
knowledge and experience by deploying them as team inspectors,
placing greater emphasis on matching their expertise to specific
types of provision to complement the inspection expertise brought
by His Majesty's Inspectors
This change recognises the value Ofsted places on the unique
strengths and expertise of His Majesty's Inspectors and OIs. By
more deliberately and strategically combining the different
expertise of His Majesty's Inspectors and OIs on inspection
teams, Ofsted will be able to deliver its renewed approach to
education inspection with more insightful, context-aware
inspections that will better serve children, learners and
education providers.
During the recent consultation,
Ofsted heard that inspectors do not always have the necessary
expertise or experience in the specific types of provision they
inspect (e.g. primary or special schools, or apprenticeship
providers), which makes it harder for them to understand the
context the provider is working in. Therefore, from November,
most school and further education and skills inspections will
have at least one inspector on the team with previous experience
of working in a similar type of provision.
These changes build on the many improvements Ofsted has already
made to make sure inspections are consistent; for example,
Fridays are now used to gather teams of His Majesty's Inspectors
for reflection and training, and senior staff hold regular
meetings to review inspection outcomes and provide oversight of
the most complex cases.
Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said:
“We want to make sure our inspections are as consistent as
possible, from Cornwall to Northumberland. We have already put
stronger quality assurance measures in place, and utilising the
expertise of our workforce as effectively as we can is another
significant step forward.
“All inspection teams will have the right blend of inspection
expertise and current sector insight. This will help us better
understand the context of the schools and colleges we inspect, to
provide a fair and accurate report for parents.”
Steve Rollett, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the
Confederation of School Trusts (CST), said:
"It is welcome that Ofsted are taking the issue of consistency
seriously. Having the most experienced inspectors lead
inspections should support consistency, which would be a positive
step.
"We know Ofsted has also committed to making improvements to its
proposed toolkits and methodology, and we hope these changes will
provide further reassurance on consistency."
ENDS
Notes
- Because of its unique contexts and requirements, our early
years inspection model works differently. In early years,
inspections are typically conducted by individual inspectors
rather than teams.
