***Update September 2024***
Please note this blog no longer reflects accurate timetables for inspection following the removal of the overall effectiveness grade for state-funded school inspections. For more information, please see the timing of inspection section in the updated school inspection handbook.
The period between inspections is normally simple. However, there are currently several complicating factors. This blog will clarify when schools can expect their next inspection.
Normally:
- A school judged outstanding or good will usually be inspected within the 4 academic years following its last inspection.
- A school judged requires improvement or inadequate will usually be inspected within two and a half years.
However, the picture is currently a bit more complicated, for several reasons, including:
- the pause to inspections during the pandemic meant that we have extended the period for many schools
- the government lifted the inspection exemption for outstanding schools; this added 3,000 schools to our schedule, many of which have not been inspected for a decade or more
- the government has also asked us to inspect every school at least once before August 2025
This means that the gaps between inspections may be different for your school.
The tables below will give you an indication of when your next inspection is likely to be.
Things to note
As has always been the case, the indications we give are only rough guides. We may inspect sooner if we need to (for example if we have concerns about a school). We also do not confirm exactly when a school will be inspected before we notify it officially.
Exceptions
The suggested timings under current inspection grades also do not apply to all schools. If your school falls into any of the following categories, please scroll down to find timings specific to you:
- schools with an outstanding grade that were previously exempt from routine inspection
- new schools awaiting their first inspection (including schools that have received a new URN since their last inspection)
- schools that have recently undergone a significant change (for example, those that have had a new key stage added)
All other schools
If you do not fall into any of these categories, then the timing of your next inspection will be dependent on the date and grade you received at the last graded or ungraded inspection. Scroll down or click on a link below:
- schools with a good or outstanding judgement AND an ungraded inspection which recommended a follow-up graded inspection
- schools with a good or outstanding judgement
- schools with an requires improvement judgement
- schools with an inadequate judgement
Schools with a good or outstanding judgement who have had an ungraded inspection that recommended a follow-up graded inspection
If your school’s most recent grade was good or outstanding, but you have since had an ungraded inspection that recommended a follow-up graded inspection, your next inspection will be:
| Date of ungraded inspection | Likely date of next inspection |
| Before September 2021 | Before September 2023 |
| After September 2021 | Within 1 to 2 years of the ungraded inspection |
Schools with a good or outstanding judgement
If your school’s most recent grade was good or outstanding, and you either:
- Haven’t had an ungraded inspection
- Or your ungraded inspection didn’t recommend that your next inspection be graded
Then your next inspection will be:
| Date of last inspection | Likely date of next inspection |
| Before September 2018 | Before July 2024 |
| Before April 2020 | Before September 2025 |
| After April 2021 | Around 4 years after your last inspection |
Schools with a requires improvement judgement
| Date of last inspection | Likely date of next inspection |
| Before January 2020 | Before January 2024 |
| Before April 2020 | Before January 2025 |
| After April 2021 | Within 2.5 years after your last inspection |
Schools with an inadequate judgement
This does not include schools that receive a new URN because they convert to an academy or move to a trust. We treat these as new schools.
| Date of last inspection | Likely date of next inspection |
| Before April 2020 | Before July 2024 |
| After April 2020 | Within 2.5 years after your last inspection |
Previously exempt schools
If your school was previously exempt from routine inspection, due to an outstanding grade, the timings will be different. Your next inspection will depend on when the inspection was that graded your school outstanding. In some cases, this may be the date its predecessor school was inspected.
| Date of last inspection | Likely date of next inspection | Type of next inspection |
| Before September 2011 | Before January 2024 | Graded |
| September 2011 – July 2013 | Before January 2025 | Graded |
| September 2013 – July 2015 | Before September 2025 | Graded |
| September 2015 – July 2016 | Before January 2024 | Ungraded |
| September 2016 – July 2018 | Before January 2025 | Ungraded |
| September 2018 – March 2020 | By July 2025 | Ungraded |
| Since April 2021 | Please refer to above tables based on your most recent grade | N/A |
New schools awaiting their first inspection
If you are a new school, your timings will also be different. This includes schools that have closed and opened with a new unique reference number (URN) but doesn’t include schools that were exempt because of a predecessor’s outstanding grade.
| Date of school opening | Likely date of next inspection |
| Before September 2020 | By the end of your 5th academic year |
| After September 2020 | By the end of your 3rd academic year |
Schools that have undergone a significant change
All schools that have recently undergone a significant change (for example, having a new key stage added) may be inspected later than these timescales, to give time for these changes to bed in. However, the above guides may give you an indication.