New-look Ofsted report cards for schools to be given to parents from November, watchdog promises 'clearer understanding'
A raft of changes to the way Ofsted inspects schools, including new report cards with a five-point grading scale, will come into place from November.
Parents will be given more detail about their children’s education with the introduction of new-look report cards, Ofsted has confirmed.
Schools in England will be graded across a variety of different areas – including attendance, behaviour and inclusion – using a colour-coded five-point scale, which Ofsted says will provide parents with “more granularity and nuance about a provider’s performance”.
Following feedback from parents and education professionals, the five grades have been renamed urgent improvement, needs attention, expected standard, strong standard, and the new highest grade of exceptional.
An independent poll by YouGov found that almost seven out of 10 parents surveyed preferred the new-look report cards to Ofsted’s current inspection reports, with nine out of 10 saying they were easy to understand.
Additional monitoring inspections of schools and further education and skills providers where provision is not at the expected standard will ensure “action is taken quickly to raise standards”, Ofsted said.
In the early years, Ofsted will increase the frequency of inspections from every six years to every four, with an enhanced focus on the quality of education and care.
Every inspection will also focus on provision for disadvantaged children, those with a special educational need or disability (SEND), and those who are known to social care, with a specific grade for inclusion.
An additional inspector for school inspections will also be added in response to concerns about workload and wellbeing from teachers.
'Ofsted exists to keep children safe and improve their lives'
Schools in England used to be issued with one of four judgments for overall effectiveness – outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate – when inspected, but this was scrapped last year following criticism of the inspection system since the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Mrs Perry took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from its highest rating of “outstanding” to its lowest rating, “inadequate”, over safeguarding concerns.
Ofsted carried out a consultation – called the Big Listen – in a bid to “reset relationships” with teachers while “retaining the confidence” of children, parents and carers.
In February 2025, a further 12-week consultation set out a series of proposals for change, covering early years, state-funded schools, non-association independent schools, further education and skills, and initial teacher education providers, with more than 6,500 responses received.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said: “Ofsted exists to keep children safe and improve their lives.
“Children deserve the best possible education; their parents deserve the best possible information and education professionals deserve to have their work fairly assessed by experts.
“The changes we are presenting today aim to achieve all three of these things.
“Our new report cards will give parents a clearer understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement at the places where their children learn.
“We will work with the professionals in schools, early years and further education to help them showcase the best of what they do – and help them identify where they can improve.”
