What does Ofsted mean and what are the ratings?

Ofsted - the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, external - inspects and reports on anywhere that provides education for young people in England, including schools, colleges, nurseries and childminders.

Many parents and carers rely on Ofsted ratings to help them choose a school or nursery for their child.

Previously, schools or organisations were inspected every four years - or within 30 months, depending on their status - and were given one of the following four overall grades:

1 - outstanding

2 - good

3 - requires improvement

4 - inadequate

Ofsted also inspects some independent schools in England, while others are assessed by the Independent Schools Inspectorate., external Inspections in Wales are carried out by Estyn,, external in Scotland by Education Scotland,, external and in Northern Ireland by the Education and Training Inspectorate., external

How and why are the ratings changing?

Ofsted inspections will no longer give a single overall grade to an institution.

For the 2024-2025 academic year, inspectors will still apply one of the existing four grades to the individual sub-categories they assess:

A school's overall performance the quality of education provided pupil behaviour and attitudes staff personal development and the calibre of leadership and management the effectiveness of safeguarding policies

From September 2025, after a consultation, a new "report card" will come into effect. The frequency of future inspections will also be determined by the consultation.

The changes are partly in response to the wave of criticism that the rating system received after Ruth Perry's death in January 2023.

The coroner who investigated her death highlighted concerns that one-word judgements meant the same grading of "inadequate" could be given to a school which "is dreadful in all respects", and to another which is good but with issues which could have been remedied by the time the Ofsted report was published.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has denied that the new system lacks the simplicity of the old one, and said it would provide parents with a "richer picture" of what a school does well, and where it requires improvement.

Estyn in Wales and the body which inspects Church of England schools and academies, external have both already moved away from a single-grade approach.