In a speech made by Sir Martyn Oliver in May, the significance of professional dialogue between the inspection team and school leadership during inspections was greatly emphasised. Ungraded inspections will shift towards providing school leaders with opportunities to showcase their improvements and discuss areas needing further development. As a result of this, deep dives will no longer be conducted during ungraded inspections, beginning at the start of the autumn term.
Since this announcement, efforts have been made to define the practical aspects of ungraded inspections.
Initially, discussions were held with school leaders in regards to these planned changes, and parts of the inspection process were tested in various schools. The feedback from these has been integral to shaping to the new ungraded inspection process.
The ungraded inspection process will commence with an extended phone call conversation the day prior to the on-site visit. This call aims to determine the necessary actions during the inspection to gather essential evidence.
During this call, headteachers will discuss key aspects of their school with the lead inspector, including the school’s context, strengths, and improvements since the last inspection. There will also be opportunities to address ongoing challenges, in which headteachers are encouraged to involve other senior team members.
The lead inspector will be prepared with questions based on data from the school’s website, as well as previous inspection reports. This discussion will help identify several focus areas for the inspection, combining inspector interests and school priorities.
The identified focus areas will guide inspectors' activities during their visit. At least a couple of these areas will relate to the quality of education, assessed across groups of subjects rather than through deep dives into single subjects. Inspectors may also explore specific aspects, such as improvements in assessment, by visiting lessons and discussing their impact with school leaders.
Additionally, one or two focus areas might cover aspects like personal development, behaviour, or attendance, tailored to each school based on the initial phone conversation.
Ofsted have outlined clearly that these changes aim to foster meaningful professional dialogue about the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. A key objective is to reduce the burden on subject leaders themselves, shifting the dialogue so that headteachers and the senior team are more central to the inspection process.
The new inspection handbooks will be published in September, and Ofsted will publish informative videos and webinars to aid schools and provide further details.
