Ofsted delays response to inspection reform feedback

Ofsted has announced that its formal response to the consultation on new inspection frameworks will now be published in September instead of this summer term, which was the original plan.

Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, has confirmed in a letter to the Secretary of State for Education, that the scale of feedback received means the final response will now be published in September. This will allow more time to analyse responses and carry out further testing of proposals to refine and improve the final approach.   

The online consultation questionnaire received over 6,500 responses from parents, education professionals and representative bodies. Ofsted also conducted over 200 test visits to schools, early-years settings, further education and skills providers and initial teacher education (ITE) institutions. At the same time, YouGov carried out extensive independent polling and focus groups with parents and professionals.

In his letter to the Education Secretary, Sir Martyn Oliver said: "I said from the start that this is a meaningful consultation and that our proposals were not set in stone. We fully intend to make improvements to the proposed inspection framework, based on what we have heard, but we need a little more time to complete our analysis of the responses we have received. I am also convinced that our final approach will be improved by further testing of these refinements before the summer.

"I firmly believe this will result in a better and more effective inspection regime that will help the committed professionals in the education sector to raise standards for children and learners."

Routine inspections in schools, early years and further education will resume under the revised framework in November. ITE inspections will resume in January 2026, in keeping with their usual timetable.