This spring, Ofsted started running its new inspection reports website alongside the old one. During a controlled 'live' phase, we invited users to try the new site and let us know how they got on. This helped us to spot any issues and fix them before the soft launch on 14 May 2018.
Now, from the beginning of September, our new inspection reports website will be fully live. The old one will be switched off.
What’s new?
The new inspection reports site uses up-to-date technology, meeting the needs of our users. It is simpler to access on non-desktop devices and is built around the requirements of Ofsted’s external users.
It is easier for users to find information. The content is more streamlined and uses less jargon.
The changes mean that we can share our data in an automated and secure way. Professional associations, commercial sites and anyone using our data have the chance to use our application programming interfaces (APIs).
The driving force for the new website was to make it simpler to use, with clearer design and content, and better user-experience.
If you are using various software to extract information from our current website, (scraping our screens), you will have to make arrangements to do the same for our new website.
Feedback
Indications are that the new website meets our users’ needs better and is performing well.
The user satisfaction levels on the new site are around 80%, whereas on the old site were around 60%.
What next?
Our inspection reports site is one of our main reporting tools about the quality of provision that all learners receive in England.
By making our reports easier and simpler to find, we hope that parents and learners will find it even more helpful to make informed choices. In the same way, providers will be able to access information about themselves or other providers more easily.
We will continue to develop and improve the new website and track its performance. We also welcome feedback from users. In particular, if you use our data and are experiencing issues, please let us know.
Any queries or questions about the new reports website can be directed to websitecontent@ofsted.gov.uk, or directly using the feedback link on the new site.
2 comments
Comment by Jayne Brazier posted on
For all schools and academies that have links to their most recent reports on the old website set up on their webpages - will they need to change the links, or will it redirect?
Comment by Ofsted external relations posted on
Hi, you will be redirected for inspection reports -
https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/105264
But not for other files -
https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/files/2537163/urn/105264.pdf
In this case you will need to change the links if they are directly linking to the pdf.