New Ofsted grading system

The main change is that we no longer give one overall judgement, such as ‘good’, ‘outstanding’ or ‘requires improvement’.

Instead, the report cards show colour-coded grades for different areas – the aspects of education that matter most to you, like ‘attendance and behaviour’, ‘achievement’, ‘personal development and well-being’, and ‘inclusion’ (meaning how well the school or other provider meets the needs of all children).

We grade these areas on a new scale:

• ‘exceptional’
• ‘strong standard’
• ‘expected standard’
• ‘needs attention’
• ‘urgent improvement’

We also tell you whether safeguarding responsibilities are ‘met’ or ‘not met’.

It’s important to understand that the new grades can’t be compared to the old ones: this is a different approach to inspection and a new way of reporting to you.

What the new Ofsted grades tell you

The ‘expected standard’ is just that - it means the school or other provider is doing everything that it should be doing, so you’ll see the green colour coding on the report card. It’s a high standard, to make sure your children are receiving everything they need and deserve.

Moving up the scale, ‘strong standard’ marks out excellent, consistent work that’s making a real difference for children and learners.

And finally, there’s ‘exceptional’. We only award this grade when we see practice that is among the very best nationally, which should be shared with other schools or providers to help them improve.

‘Needs attention’ is an indication that there is work to be done to reach the ‘expected standard’. It’s not a ‘fail’ but it highlights where issues can be addressed before they become bigger problems that need ‘urgent improvement’.

You may see a mix of grades across a report card: it’s perfectly possible to achieve highly in some areas, and require a little more focus in others.