An overview of OFSTED

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services, and Skills is known as Ofsted.

Initially established in 1992 as the Office for Standards in Education, Ofsted expanded its remit in 2007 to include children's services work relating to social services and the courts, and its full title, as a result, was modified.

Ofsted is an independent, non-ministerial government agency that reports directly to Parliament. It is responsible for inspecting and regulating education and training for learners of all ages, as well as for inspecting and regulating services that provide care for children and young people.

What are the main responsibilities of OFSTED?

Among the responsibilities of OFSTED are:

• Regulation and inspection of educational facilities, including private, public, academy conversion, and childcare facilities.
• The inspection of agencies responsible for adoption, fostering, and other social care services.
• The inspection of other services for children and young people.
• Conducting research on education and social care.
• Informing government officials about the above institutions.
• Despite being a non-ministerial department of the UK government and reporting to Parliament, OFSTED is independent and impartial.

As of September 2019, OFSTED follows a new education inspection framework (EIF).

As a result, they will now focus on the curriculum, one of the main components of education.

It will take less time for inspectors to examine test data and more time to evaluate what is taught and how it is taught. Education providers such as nurseries, schools, colleges, and colleges will be analyzed for the way they achieve their results.

Rather than just preparing for standardized tests, this new approach will ensure that good results are a result of teaching a broad, rich curriculum.

Schools will be graded based on:

• Education quality
• Attitudes and behaviors
• Development of personal skills
• Abilities for management and leadership

How does an OFSTED rating work?

Schools are ranked by Ofsted based on the results of inspections they conduct.

OFSTED ratings are the means by which OFSTED inspectors point the quality of an institution following an inspection. There are many school who start preparing for Ofsted inspection which help them in their ranking.

The transition to the new framework will remain the same.

OFSTED Rating are:

Grade 1: Outstanding:

Outstanding schools provide exceptional care for their pupils and prepare them for the next level of education or employment. Ofsted exempts schools rated as outstanding from routine inspection, except for nurseries, special schools, and Pupil Referral Units.

Grade 2: Good

A school that is good at meeting the needs of students and preparing them for their next level of education or employment, is a good school. Schools that are rated as 'good or better' get a short inspection once every three years. If the school's performance has significantly changed, a full inspection is required.

Grade 3: Need Improvement

While a school is not considered inadequate, it is still worthy of improvement. Schools rated as needing improvement will be subject to another OFSTED inspection in two years. This will allow them to track their progress.

Grade 4: Inadequate

A failing school is one that has serious weaknesses and fails to adequately prepare its students for the next stage of their lives. However, Grade 3 or higher is given to management and leadership. Regular OFSTED inspections will be conducted at schools deemed inadequate. A Grade 4 school will be classified as a Special Measures school if its management team is not Grade 3 or higher. A school that is inadequate has serious weaknesses and fails to adequately prepare its students for the next stage of their lives. However, Grade 3 or higher is given to management and leadership. Regular OFSTED inspections will be conducted at schools deemed inadequate. A Grade 4 school will not be ranked if its management team is not Grade 3 or higher.

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