With immediate effect, single headline grades will no longer be issued by Ofsted when it inspects state-funded schools, to drive high and rising school standards for children and increase transparency for parents.
For state-funded schools inspected in the 2024-25 academic year, parents will see four grades across the existing sub-categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.
The change delivers on the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and demonstrates the Prime Minister’s commitment to improve the life chances of young people across the country.
Where schools are identified as struggling, Government will prioritise rapid planning and action to improve the education and experience of children, rather than relying purely on changing schools’ management.
The reform paves the way for the introduction of school report cards from September 2025, which will provide parents with a more complete picture of how schools are performing and where there is a need for improvement. The design and content of report cards will be developed over the coming months, including through extensive engagement with parents and schools.
From early 2025, the Department will introduce regional improvement teams to work with teachers and leaders in struggling schools to quickly and directly address identified areas of weakness.
For schools whose performance is causing the most serious concern—which would previously have been rated “inadequate”—the Government will continue to intervene. Ofsted is under a legal duty to identify schools causing concern (defined as schools requiring special measures or requiring significant improvement) and notify the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is under a legal duty to issue an academy order to a local authority maintained school in either of the categories of concern. The removal of headline grades will not affect the legal position. The Secretary of State will also continue to use, where appropriate, the power to terminate the funding agreement of an academy identified as a school causing concern.
For schools that have previously received two or more consecutive judgments that were less than “good” and, as of today’s announcement, are due to become academies or transfer to a new trust by 1 January, that process will continue. For schools that have received two or more consecutive judgments that were less than “good” but are due to convert or transfer in the new year, the Government’s intervention approach will change. The Government will now put in place support for these schools from a high-performing school, helping to drive up standards quickly. Schools with current Ofsted grades of below “good” which are in receipt of a “requires improvement” sub-judgment in leadership and management or quality of education in their next Ofsted inspection will also be eligible for this support.
The Government are committed, in time, to replacing single headline grades in all the remits that Ofsted inspects—namely private schools, early years settings, colleges, initial teacher education and children’s social care providers. Government and Ofsted will work in partnership with sectors over the next year to develop alternative reporting arrangements. New arrangements will take account of the unique characteristics of each sector but will broadly reflect the report card approach that is being taken for schools. Providers in other sectors will continue to receive single headline grades in the meantime.
Today’s changes build on the recently announced children’s wellbeing Bill, which will put children at the centre of education and make changes to ensure every child is supported to achieve and thrive.
Today’s announcement is the first step towards a school accountability system that sets the highest expectations on standards while making inspection a more powerful, more transparent tool for driving school improvement. The reforms represent a major step in the Government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child at every stage. In doing so, the Government will put education back at the forefront of national life and restore teaching as a valued profession which delivers for our children and our country.
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