Single headline judgements scrapped by Ofsted

Single headline grades for schools will be scrapped with immediate effect, with the introduction of School Report Cards coming from September 2025.

For inspections this academic year, parents will see four grades across the existing sub-categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership & management.

The introduction of School Report Cards from September 2025 will provide parents with a full and comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing and ensure that inspections are more effective in driving improvement.

The government will continue to intervene in poorly performing schools to ensure high school standards for children.

Bridget Phillipson, Education Secretary, said: "Single headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing – that’s what our report cards will provide."

As part of this announcement, where schools are identified as struggling, government will prioritise rapidly getting plans in place to improve the education and experience of children, rather than relying purely on changing schools’ management.

From early 2025, the government will also introduce Regional Improvement Teams that will work with struggling schools to quickly and directly address areas of weakness.

The government will work closely with Ofsted and relevant sectors and stakeholders to ensure that the removal of headline grades is implemented smoothly.

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of National Association of Headteachers, said: "The scrapping of overarching grades is a welcome interim measure. We have been clear that simplistic one-word judgements are harmful, and we are pleased the government has taken swift action to remove them.

"School leaders recognise the need for accountability but it must be proportionate and fair and so we are pleased to see a stronger focus on support for schools instead of heavy-handed intervention.

"There is much work to do now in order to design a fundamentally different long-term approach to inspection and we look forward to working with government to achieve that."

Where necessary, in cases of the most serious concern, government will continue to intervene, including by issuing an academy order, which may in some cases mean transferring to new management. Ofsted will continue to identify these schools – which would have been graded as inadequate.

The government also currently intervenes where a school receives two or more consecutive judgements of ‘requires improvement’ under the ‘2RI’ policy. With the exception of schools already due to convert to academies this term, this policy will change. The government will now put in place support for these schools from a high performing school, helping to drive up standards quickly.