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The new Ofsted – the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills was launched on 1 April 2007. It brings together the 4 formerly separate inspectorates of:
- Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI)
- Ofsted
- Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI)
- Inspectorate of Courts Administration (HMICA)
Role of Ofsted
It has 2 major remits to:
- Inspect and regulate care for children and young people
- Inspect education and training for learners of all ages
The Education and Inspections Act specifically requires that in everything they do should:
- Promote service improvement
- Ensure services focus on the interests of their users
- See that services are efficient, effective and promote value for money
How they Inspect
Inspections are carried out using the Common Inspection Framework, focussing on the experience of the individual learner which requires an overall judgement on how effectively and efficiently the provision meets the learner’s needs and how it can be improved further.
The inspection results in a report which includes:
- judgements about the training provision as a whole (effectiveness)
- judgements about the different aspects of the provision (achievement and standards, quality of provision, leadership and management.)
Published reports identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. The summary judgements and those for curriculum areas are made on a four point scale and cover: areas of learning, contributory areas of learning, all leadership and management grades and the grade for overall effectiveness as well as for teaching and learning lessons that are observed.
Grade 1 – Outstanding
Grade 2 – Good
Grade 3 – Satisfactory
Grade 4 – Inadequate
The reports are published on the website www.ofsted.gov.uk |
