Ofsted Inspection Framework: How School Inspections Work In 2026/27

If your school is due an inspection this year, you’ll be inspected under the new inspection framework that came into use in November 2025, with the first round of annual updates that took effect in September 2026. Most of what happens from the Monday morning phone call to the day your report card is published is set out in writing, and knowing where to find it takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the process.

This step-by-step guide explains what the framework is, the documents that sit underneath it, and how Ofsted inspectors use them during school inspections. It walks through the inspection process from the notification call to the final Ofsted feedback, and explains how grades are reached and what happens afterwards. If your school was last inspected under the 2019 framework, the move to the new Ofsted framework means your next inspection will end in a report card with a grade for each evaluation area.

Key takeaways

• The framework is a set of documents: the education inspection framework (EIF), a school inspection toolkit, operating guides for inspectors and inspection information for schools.
• The current versions apply to school inspections since September 2026, and ungraded inspections have ended. Ofsted now updates the toolkits and operating guides every year. Changes are published in June and take effect in September.
• The lead inspector usually phones on a Monday morning between 9.30 and 10am, and a full inspection normally lasts 2 days.
• Inspectors start from the ‘expected standard’ in each evaluation area and only award a grade where the evidence is a secure fit.
• Safeguarding is judged as ‘met’ or ‘not met’. A ‘not met’ judgement places the school in a category of concern.
• Your draft report card normally arrives within 18 working days of the inspection, and the final version within 30 working days.

Ofsted Preparation Guides: Primary and Secondary Maths

A practical guide to preparing for maths under an Ofsted inspection, including what’s changed in the renewed framework, from report cards to the evaluation areas, and the questions inspectors are likely to ask.

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What is the Ofsted inspection framework?

The Ofsted inspection framework is the set of documents that explains how Ofsted inspects schools, early years settings and further education and skills providers in England. When school leaders talk about ‘the framework’, they usually mean all of these documents together, but each one has a different job.

The education inspection framework (EIF)

The education inspection framework is the overarching document. It sets out Ofsted’s inspection principles and explains the evaluation areas and the grades inspectors give. It applies across every type of provider Ofsted inspects. The current version has been in use since November 2025 and was last updated in September 2026.

It’s a short document, so for the detail of what inspectors look for in your school you’ll need the toolkit.

The school inspection toolkit

The state-funded schools inspection toolkit replaced the old School Inspection Handbook. It sets out the standards for each evaluation area and what a school needs to show for each grade, from ‘urgent improvement’ to ‘exceptional’. The September 2026 version runs to 77 pages.

Inspectors use the school inspection toolkit to structure their conversations with school leaders, and Ofsted is clear that it isn’t a checklist. It’s worth working through what the Ofsted toolkit says about each evaluation area before you start your self-evaluation.

There are also separate toolkits for non-association independent schools and for further education and skills providers.

The operating guides

The operating guides are written for inspectors. The school inspection operating guide sets out how an inspection runs, day by day, and the school monitoring operating guide covers monitoring inspections.

It’s worth reading the operating guide yourself, because it explains when meetings happen, who inspectors expect to speak to and how they move from evidence to a provisional grade. That way there should be little on the day that you haven’t already seen in writing.

Inspection information for schools

Inspection information for state-funded schools is the document written for school leaders. It covers notification, the nominee role, the documents you’ll be asked for, final feedback and the report card timeline. If you only read one document before your call comes, make it this one.

Which version applies to your inspection

Ofsted now reviews its inspection materials once a year. It publishes the changes in June, and they apply to inspections from the following September, so any inspection in the 2026/27 academic year uses the versions marked ‘for use from September 2026’.

Each year Ofsted also publishes a summary of changes, which is the quickest way to see what has changed since you last self-evaluated.

Who the framework covers

The education inspection framework applies to every type of educational provision Ofsted inspects for children and young people, including:

• maintained schools,
• academies,
• non-association independent schools,
• special schools,
• pupil referral units,
• registered early years settings, and
• further education and skills providers.

Each type of provider has its own toolkit and operating guide, and early years providers have their own early years inspection toolkit. This guide focuses on state-funded schools.

The principles inspectors work to

Every inspection under the new framework follows the same principles, in primary schools, secondary schools and special schools alike. Understanding them helps you predict how inspectors will approach the evidence you share.

Starting from the expected standard

Inspectors begin every evaluation area at the ‘expected standard’. They first ask whether your school meets all the expected standards for that area. If it does, they look at whether it also meets the strong standards, and then whether there is clear evidence of the additional standards that define exceptional practice.

Ofsted describes this as a ‘secure fit’ model, which replaced the ‘best fit’ approach of the 2019 framework. A grade is only awarded where the evidence securely matches its standards. The operating guide also states that ‘some minor inconsistencies may lead to priorities for improvement but do not lower the grade’.

If the expected standard isn’t reached, the area is graded ‘needs attention’, or ‘urgent improvement’ where any of the urgent improvement indicators apply.

Context and inclusion

When inspectors interpret evidence, they take your school’s context into account, including the characteristics of your pupils, your outcomes data, your attendance data and the local context. Your school’s context shapes how inspectors read your results, while the standards in the toolkit stay the same for every school. Ofsted is clear that context helps inspectors interpret evidence fairly and is never used to decide a grade in advance.

Inclusive education runs through the whole framework, with particular attention on the most vulnerable pupils: disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), pupils known to children’s social care and, since September 2026, pupils facing other barriers to their learning or wellbeing. These are the groups inspectors will ask about in case sampling, and they shape the questions in almost every evaluation area, from achievement to personal development.

What inspectors will not ask for

Ofsted’s inspection information also lists what inspectors won’t ask for, including written evidence against each standard in the toolkit, a self-evaluation form, the grading of individual lessons or teachers, and any particular style of marking. Inspectors won’t evaluate your use of AI directly either, although AI can still come up during Ofsted inspections where it affects an evaluation area. The full list is worth sharing with staff when you’re preparing for an Ofsted inspection.

How an inspection runs under the framework

The inspection process follows the same pattern in nearly every school. You get a phone call on Monday and a planning call the same day, then inspectors spend two days on site and give final feedback at the end of day 2. Here is a step-by-step guide to what happens at each stage.

The notification call

The lead inspector usually phones the school between 9.30 and 10am on a Monday morning. After a bank holiday or a longer break, the call may come on a Tuesday instead. Inspectors are then on site for the following two days.

In a small number of cases, such as a full inspection without notice, inspectors phone about 15 minutes before arriving.

The nominee

Schools are invited to choose a nominee: a senior member of staff who helps with planning and communication and works with inspectors throughout the inspection. The nominee joins the planning call and briefs staff, then during the inspection liaises with the lead inspector and attends the reflection meetings.

Having a nominee is optional, and the inspection information document states that schools will not be at any disadvantage if they don’t nominate someone.

The planning call

The planning call takes place on the same day as the notification call. It may take up to 90 minutes and is normally held by video. The headteacher, at least one other senior leader and the nominee usually take part.

During the call, you’ll discuss:

• your wellbeing and that of your staff, and any reasonable adjustments
• your school’s context, your pupil population and how your school operates, including any alternative provision
• your priorities and your own view of where the school sits in each evaluation area
• how you identify and support disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• which pupils might be included in case sampling
• the inspection activities planned for day 1 and your governance arrangements

It helps to have your school improvement plan and your latest attendance and exclusions data in front of you for the call.

Learning walks and case sampling

Day 1 starts with a check of the single central record, which inspectors treat as a priority. You’ll also agree the pupils for case sampling: a representative sample of around six pupils, always including (where relevant) a pupil with an education, health and care plan, a pupil known, or previously known, to social care and a pupil who receives pupil premium funding.

Much of the rest of day 1 is spent on learning walks, which you or another relevant leader can join. These mainly cover the curriculum and teaching and achievement evaluation areas, although inspectors gather evidence on the others as they go. In primary schools and early years, inspectors focus closely on early reading and phonics. In secondary schools, inspectors look at a group of subjects agreed on the planning call. Inspectors will also meet your designated safeguarding lead, your SENCo, other leaders and a randomly selected group of school staff. There are no deep dives and no graded lesson observations.

Reflection meetings

In reflection meetings, inspectors share their emerging findings with you. The operating guide sets out four: around lunchtime and at the end of day 1, and at the start of day 2 and around lunchtime on day 2.

These meetings are your chance to point inspectors towards evidence they haven’t yet seen. If you think a finding doesn’t reflect the school, say so and suggest what they could look at, because inspectors can change their plans for the rest of the inspection as a result.

Final Ofsted feedback

The inspection ends with a final feedback meeting on day 2. The headteacher usually attends alongside members of the governing board or trustees, the academy trust CEO or their delegate, and a local authority representative for maintained schools. A local authority representative also attends for any school where safeguarding is judged ‘not met’.

Inspectors explain the key findings and the provisional grade for each evaluation area, then set out your priorities for improvement. Everything shared in this meeting is confidential until the final version is published.

Moderation before grades are confirmed

Grades given at the end of the inspection are provisional. They go through Ofsted’s quality assurance and consistency checks before they’re confirmed, and where ‘urgent improvement’ or a category of concern is likely, the lead inspector must discuss it with Ofsted’s duty desk before the end of the inspection.

From draft report card to publication

Your report card follows a set timeline:

The factual accuracy check is limited to minor points of clarity and accuracy. If you want to challenge a grade, you need to use Ofsted’s complaints process, ideally after raising your concerns with the inspection team while they’re still on site.

How inspectors reach a grade

Your Ofsted report card shows a grade for each evaluation area on the five-point scale, alongside published data and a ‘met’ or ‘not met’ judgement for safeguarding.

The evaluation areas for schools

State-funded schools are graded in six core evaluation areas:

• inclusion
• curriculum and teaching
• achievement
• attendance and behaviour
• personal development and wellbeing, which includes character development and careers education
• leadership and governance

Early years and sixth form provision are graded as separate evaluation areas where a school has them, and safeguarding is judged separately.

Safeguarding: met or not met

Safeguarding is the only area that isn’t graded on the five-point scale. Inspectors judge whether your school meets its statutory duties and has an open and positive safeguarding culture, and record the result as ‘met’ or ‘not met’.

A ‘not met’ judgement places the school in a category of concern. For maintained schools and pupil referral units, it also leads to a directive academy order. It’s worth running through the safeguarding questions Ofsted is likely to ask with your team well before an inspection.

Monitoring and categories of concern

There are two categories of concern. A school requires significant improvement when it isn’t providing an acceptable standard of education but leaders have the capacity to improve it. A school requires special measures when it isn’t providing an acceptable standard of education and leaders don’t show the capacity to secure the improvement needed, which is identified through the urgent improvement indicators in the leadership and governance evaluation area.

Schools in a category of concern receive monitoring inspections through Ofsted’s monitoring programme. A school with a ‘needs attention’ grade in any area may also receive a monitoring visit, and Ofsted can regrade an area if it finds improvement.

How often schools are inspected

Most schools are inspected roughly once every 4 years, and the law requires every school to be inspected within 5 school years of the end of the school year of its last inspection. Ungraded inspections ended in November 2025, so most schools now have a full, graded inspection each time, and the old inspection report has been replaced by a report card.

What changed in the inspection materials in September 2026

Ofsted’s first annual update to the school inspection toolkit and operating guides came into effect in September 2026, ten months after the new Ofsted framework was introduced. The key changes for state-funded schools are:

• results in national tests are now compared with similar schools as well as with national averages, using a new statistical model that also appears in your inspection data summary report (IDSR)
• to reach the expected standard for achievement, pupils facing barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing need to be achieving well
• inclusion now refers to ‘leaders who have an inclusion role’, so inspectors may speak to your designated teacher or inclusion lead as well as your SENCo
• new expectations on inclusion bases, and a published inclusion strategy setting out how your funding meets your pupils’ needs
• clearer expectations for policies on mobile phones and bullying, and a dedicated allergy safety policy
• updated guidance on who can accompany inspectors on learning walks
• comparisons with national averages removed from report cards for special schools

Using the framework in your school

The framework is useful well before an inspection is due. Here is how each group in your school can use it.

Headteachers and senior leaders

Use the school inspection toolkit as your main self-evaluation tool and, as inspectors do, start with the expected standard criteria in each of the evaluation areas. You’ll be asked on the planning call where you think the school sits, so it helps if school leaders have agreed that view as a senior team. Ofsted does not require any particular self-evaluation document, so keep whatever you produce short and useful to you.

The nominee

If you’re likely to be the nominee, read the inspection information document, the school inspection toolkit and the operating guides before the call comes. Plan how you’ll brief staff on the Monday afternoon and who will cover your usual responsibilities for the two days.

Governors and trustees

The framework expects those responsible for governance to share leaders’ understanding of the school’s strengths and priorities. Brief your governing board on the evaluation areas, including the leadership and governance evaluation area, and the five grades, and agree who will attend the final feedback meeting.

Leaders with an inclusion role

Ofsted now sees inclusion as the responsibility of all leaders and staff, and the September 2026 materials refer to ‘leaders who have an inclusion role’ rather than the SENCo alone. Make sure you can explain how you identify pupils facing barriers, including those known to children’s social care, and what support they receive, such as targeted school interventions. You’ll also need to show how you know that support is working, as these pupils will be part of the case sampling.

For many schools, one-to-one support is part of how they close the attainment gap for these pupils. If you’re looking for ways to give more of your disadvantaged pupils one-to-one maths support, Third Space Learning provides low-cost one-to-one maths tutoring from Skye, the spoken AI maths tutor developed by maths teachers.

Subject leaders

With no deep dives, inspectors will see your subject through learning walks and conversations with you and your team. Be ready to explain how your ambitious curriculum is sequenced for every pupil and how you use adaptive teaching for pupils who need more support. If you’re planning curriculum changes after the Curriculum and Assessment Review, be ready to explain where you are in that process too.

For practical inspection preparation, it helps to prepare your staff for an Ofsted inspection well in advance and to talk through the Ofsted questions subject leaders and staff are likely to be asked.

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