First evaluation of education inspection framework
Ofsted has released the findings of its first evaluation of the education inspection framework (EIF), based on a small-scale study and survey of small school leaders.
The watchdog introduced the EIF in September 2019 before suspending them the following March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Within those six months Ofsted conducted 3,250 school inspections. This included 2,900 full inspections and section 8 visits to good and non-exempt outstanding schools. In addition they completed 7,300 ‘full’ early year register inspections and over 200 further education and skills inspections.
Amongst the findings, Ofsted has said it was clear that being inspected by under the EIF is demanding for leaders, but also fair. One respondent said: "This was the fairest inspection process I have experienced as a headteacher; it was thorough, intense and therefore exhausting but very fair and the inspection team genuinely listened to us."
Now that Ofsted places more emphasis on the curriculum and no longer considers providers’ non-statutory and internal progress and attainment data during inspections, the research found school staff had noticed this shift and it reduced unnecessary workload, with some reporting the new approach enabled “better and broader conversations about the curriculum to take place”.
However a small number of leaders and staff reported the “pendulum had swung too far away from considering attainment”. And there was an incorrect perception among some that Ofsted no longer considers’ pupil attainment at all.
Read the full findings here.
Read moreLatest News
22/10/2025 - 14:06
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched a new £2.7 million programme to deliver indoor air quality filters to hundreds of schools across the capital.
22/10/2025 - 09:45
Outlined in the Skills White Paper, plans include proposals for new V-levels, a vocational alternative to A-levels and T-levels, as well as a “stepping stone” qualification for students resitting English and maths GCSEs.
21/10/2025 - 09:56
Free specialist training is being made available to teachers in Wales to give them the knowledge to understand and respond to the challenges faced by adopted and care experienced children.
20/10/2025 - 09:52
Members of the newly formed Youth Select Committee have launched a call for evidence as part of their inquiry into Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education in secondary schools.
20/10/2025 - 09:37
A new report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) warns that the current system for registering children for Free School Meals (FSM) is failing to reach many of the most disadvantaged pupils.
