The schools’ watchdog OFSTED has unveiled plans for a “report card” system to mark schools across at least eight different areas using a colourcoded five-point scale
The move replaces the ‘single word judgement’ heavily criticised when headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life, after her school was downgraded from the highest to the lowest rating over safeguarding reforms
The New report cards proposed will give better information to parents in a simple format, as well as driving higher standards for children and learners.
They include a colour-coded 5-point grading scale to evaluate more areas of a provider’s work at-a-glance, accompanied by short summaries of inspectors’ findings in more detail. An overall effectiveness grade will not be awarded.
The 5-point scale will allow inspectors to highlight success when things are working well, provide reassurance that leaders are taking the right action where improvement is needed, and identify where more urgent action is required to avoid standards declining. As well as giving parents more nuanced information, this approach will help reduce pressure on staff – by presenting a balanced picture of practice across more areas, not a single overall grade.
The proposed scale ranges from ‘causing concern’ at the lowest end, through ‘attention needed’, ‘secure’ and ‘strong’, to ‘exemplary’ – where a provider’s practice is of such exceptional quality that it should be shared with others across the country so they can learn from it.
Under the proposals, evaluation areas differ slightly by education phase (early years, schools, further education) but in all cases include a new focus on inclusion. This means inspectors will look at how well providers support vulnerable and disadvantaged children and learners, including those with SEND, making sure these children are always at the centre of inspection.
Ofsted is also proposing to include more contextual data in inspections and reports, such as learner characteristics, performance outcomes, absence and attendance figures, and local area demographics. Inspectors will use this information to help understand the circumstances in which leaders are operating and to assess their work in context – for instance, whether they are working hard in a disadvantaged area facing particular challenges, or – if they have a high-attaining intake – whether they are stretching their most able pupils. This will help parents make national and local comparisons, and comparisons between providers working in similar contexts.
From autumn 2025, it’s proposed that Ofsted will no longer carry out ungraded inspections of state-funded schools. This means every school will know that its next routine Ofsted inspection will be a full, graded one. Ofsted is also proposing that all schools with an identified need for improvement will receive monitoring calls and visits, to check that timely action is being taken to raise standards. This includes schools with any evaluation area graded ‘attention needed’. Ofsted will only monitor for as long as is necessary to see a tangible difference for children.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said:
Our mission is to raise standards and improve the lives of children, particularly the most disadvantaged. Today’s proposals for a new Ofsted report card and a new way of inspecting are designed to do just that.
The report card will replace the simplistic overall judgement with a suite of grades, giving parents much more detail and better identifying the strengths and areas for improvement for a school, early years or further education provider.
Our new top ‘exemplary’ grade will help raise standards, identifying world-class practice that should be shared with the rest of the country. And by quickly returning to monitor schools that have areas for improvement, we will ensure timely action is taken to raise standards.
We also hope that this more balanced, fairer approach will reduce the pressure on professionals working in education, as well as giving them a much clearer understanding of what we will be considering on inspection.
