Inspection is above all about human judgement. Therefore, the quality of Ofsted’s work and our value as a force for improvement depend absolutely on the knowledge and expertise of our inspectors.
Sean Harford, HMI, National Director, Education, puts assessment into perspective.
...preparing for next term’s inspections and finalising a small number of updates to our section 8 and section 5 inspection handbooks, which were published today. These updates bring some changes...
...asking for documents and information in a way that the handbook says we don’t need. I want to stress that the vast majority of our inspections run smoothly and without...
...to find out about their training and its quality. I ask them if they know what to do if they have concerns about pupils. I talk to pupils to see...
Paul Cocker, HMI, explains what happens during a further education and skills four day inspection.
From January 2018, we will convert a short inspection to a section 5 inspection (normally within 48 hours) if there are serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education.
Sarah Hubbard, HMI and National Lead for English, on the English curriculum and the findings of Ofsted's recent research into it.
...with governors, staff and pupils and look at a wide variety of documents. Ahead of this particular inspection I’d identified that the majority of pupils are eligible for free school...
Sean Harford, National Director, Education, on Ofsted's research programme about the school curriculum and the preliminary findings so far.