Chief Inspector of Ofsted, Sir Martyn Oliver, has announced that school and further education inspections in England will commence from 22 January 2024. This follows mental health awareness training for all inspectors following the investigation into the death of Ruth Perry. Sir Martyn has also confirmed that Ofsted will respond in full to the coroner’s inquest into Perry’s death on 19 January 2024.

Ofsted has announced that the sub-judgments awarded to individual schools, will be displayed along with the overall effectiveness grades, at the top of the inspection report web page. This means that parents of pupils will be able to see a ‘round picture’ of the schools. The four sub-judgments include quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

Ofsted has announced in the 2024 spring term, schools affected by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) will be eligible for inspections. Ofsted had previously announced that it would not inspect schools affected by RAAC in the 2023 autumn term inspection schedule and Ofsted has said that this will be sufficient grounds for schools with confirmed RAAC in their buildings and those impacted by RAAC to defer the inspection should they wish to. However, Ofsted has maintained that where there are concerns about a school, it may carry out an inspection regardless of their RAAC situation.

Ofsted has commissioned IFF Research to conduct a multi-stage independent evaluation of its renewed approach to education inspection, following recommendations from the Dame Christine Gilbert review published in September 2024. Ofsted has also published the terms of reference for this work. The evaluation will assess whether the renewed inspection approach is being implemented as intended and achieving its desired impact on education providers, while also tracking perceptions of Ofsted’s culture over time. Using a mixed-methods design, the evaluation will be conducted in three stages: (1) a baseline survey in autumn 2025 of providers inspected in summer 2025; (2) in-depth qualitative research in spring 2026 with providers inspected under the renewed framework and (3) a one-year post-inspection monitoring survey in 2026/27 to measure outcomes and provider experiences. A final evaluation report is scheduled to be published in 2027.

Ofsted has launched a consultation to gather feedback from parents, carers, professionals, and learners on proposed changes to education inspections. The consultation seeks opinions on plans for clearer, easier-to-read report cards, which will include a new 5-point grading scale and short summaries of inspectors' findings. The proposed changes also involve new education inspection toolkits that outline evaluation areas and assessment methods, changes to inspection methodology, ending ungraded inspections of state-funded schools, and a new approach to identifying schools causing concern. Responses are sought by 28 April 2025.

Ofsted has opened a consultation seeking views on proposals to improve the inspection of local authority children's services and the inspection and regulation of children's social care providers in England through changes to the inspecting local authority children's services (ILACS) framework and the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF), with the aim of placing greater emphasis on the issues that matter most to children, young people and families. The proposals include adopting a set of objectives to guide policy development, aligning the frameworks more closely with the government's reforms, moving away from headline judgements towards reporting that better reflects the complexity of children's social care, strengthening how Ofsted gathers the views of children, young people and families, using its system-wide insight to address challenges across the care system and changing the ILACS inspection schedule to focus on local authorities most in need of improvement. The consultation closes on 28 September 2026.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) has updated its Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF) to include supported accommodation for looked-after children and care leavers aged 16-17 within its scope. The framework revision also introduces changes to inspection principles and evaluation criteria aimed at improving placement stability, following the Big Listen consultation. The update includes clarifications to inspection report content and modifications to sections one and two of Annex A questionnaires.

Ofsted's Chief Inspector has launched 'Big Listen' to put disadvantaged children at the heart of reforms for the future. The Chief Inspector has promised that high standards will be championed for all children, especially the disadvantaged and vulnerable. 'Big Listen' is a 12 week consultation which opens at 10:30am on 8 March 2024, and will be followed by 'real action'. The 'Big Listen' consultation aims to collate perspectives from professionals, parents, carers, children and learners. The consultation asks a series of questions aimed at potential Ofsted changes based around four themes: reporting findings; conduct of inspections; how Ofsted can have a positive impact and; how to be a trusted world-class inspectorate. The consultation closes on 31 May 2024.

Ofsted has launched its annual point-in-time online surveys for various social care providers, including residential special schools, children's homes, fostering and adoption agencies, and more. These surveys aim to gather feedback from children, parents, staff, and professionals to inform future inspections and build a national picture of experiences with these providers. The surveys will close on 23 March 2025, and links have been sent to registered managers and responsible individuals. Participants can also contact Ofsted directly to provide their views.

Ofsted has launched its social care survey for a range providers, including residential special schools, further education colleges with residential provision, children's homes, fostering agencies and adoption agencies among others. The survey aims to gather feedback from children, parents, staff and professionals to inform future inspections and provide a national overview of experiences with these providers. The survey will close on 22 March 2026 and links have been sent to registered managers and responsible individuals. Participants can also contact Ofsted directly to provide their views.

A new joint inspection framework for secure training centres has been published by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). The framework removes the previous 'children's resettlement' judgement while maintaining focus on community transition support. Updates include revised complaints procedures, new evaluation criteria for non-speaking children and clarified Equality Act compliance measures. The framework applies to all secure training centres in England.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) has outlined a revised approach to tackling unregistered children’s homes. The approach includes criminal investigations and prosecutions of unregistered providers and working with local authorities and the police to take immediate action to safeguard children. Ofsted has also updated its registration guidance to prioritise applications for specialist provision that meet local authorities’ most urgent sufficiency needs. Applicants are expected to engage directly with the relevant local authorities. The revised approach is intended to ensure that Ofsted’s regulatory resources are used to process applications that support the welfare of children and address sufficiency pressures in children’s social care.