• The Government has been planning to overhaul Ofsted school inspections for some time, first dropping controversial one-word grades last year

• A consultation on a proposed new system has now been launched

• It would see schools inspected on a wider range of criteria than before, and graded in each using a colour-coded system

• Some education unions are not happy about the proposed changes

Details on what Ofsted’s new inspection system for schools and report cards for parents could look like are out now - and you can have your say on them.

On Monday (3 February), the government school watchdog launched a public consultation on proposed changes to how it inspects and rates state-funded schools. Shaking up school inspections had been a key education policy mooted by Labour after last year’s election win, with plans to move to a more report card-like system.

Ofsted’s previous school inspection system had been controversial in some corners. It dropped its overall one-word ratings in September last year, which had made national headlines after a coroner ruled that an inspection which saw her school downgraded contributed to the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry.

But under the new proposal, what would Ofsted inspections look like? What criteria would schools be judged on, and how would inspectors flag schools in need of more help? And finally, do educators think the new system sounds any better?

Here’s what you need to know:

What criteria would schools be judged on?

From autumn 2025, Ofsted says that it would no longer carry out ungraded inspections of state-funded schools under the proposed framework. This meant that every school would know that its next routine inspection would be a full, graded one.

Currently, schools are evaluated in four major areas. These are quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management - which also include checking the school has adequate safeguarding measures in place.

Under the proposal, schools - along with non-association independent schools - will be evaluated on nine main criteria. These are:

1. Leadership and governance 

2. Curriculum 

3. Developing teaching 

4. Achievement 

5. Behaviour and attitudes 

6. Attendance 

7. Personal development and well-being 

8. Inclusion 

9. Safeguarding (to be assessed as ‘met’ or ‘not met’)

When a school has an attached sixth form college or early-years nursery provision, these will also be evaluated, This means schools may potentially be inspected in 10 or 11 categories total, with the extras being:

1. Early years in schools 

2. Sixth form in school

Of course, Ofsted don’t only inspect schools. The consultation also includes proposed changes to inspection categories for early years settings, FE and skills providers, and initial teacher education (ITE) providers. Changes to children’s social care inspections are also set to follow in 2026.

Early years schools would be graded on eight main things - leadership and governance; achievement; curriculum; teaching; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routine; children’s welfare and well-being; inclusion; and safeguarding.

Will schools be getting overall grades again?

No, not a single, overall grade. Under the proposal, the controversial single word judgement - which previously saw schools given an overall rating of outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate - would be replaced with a new, colour-coded 5-point grading scale, which includes a new top grade “to help raise standards”.

The scale resembles a traffic light, according to an information video created by Ofsted, and would see schools given a grade in each of the 9+ inspection areas - except safeguarding which will either be graded ‘met’ or ‘not met’. From lowest to highest, these grades will be:

1. ‘Causing concern’ - Red on the colour scale

2. ‘Attention needed’ - Orange

3. ‘Secure’ - Light green

4. ‘Strong’ - Medium Green

5. ‘Exemplary’ - Dark green

Ofsted says ‘exemplary’ grades will only be handed out “where a provider’s practice is of such exceptional quality that it should be shared with others across the country so they can learn from it”.

In the report cards for schools that parents will see, all five colours will be laid out side-by-side. Boxes containing each of the school’s assessment criteria will then be placed under the relevant one.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said: “The report card will replace the simplistic overall judgement with a suite of grades, giving parents much more detail and better identifying the strengths and areas for improvement for a school, early years or further education provider.”

“Our new top ‘exemplary’ grade will help raise standards, identifying world-class practice that should be shared with the rest of the country,” he continued. “And by quickly returning to monitor schools that have areas for improvement, we will ensure timely action is taken to raise standards.

“We also hope that this more balanced, fairer approach will reduce the pressure on professionals working in education, as well as giving them a much clearer understanding of what we will be considering on inspection.”

What happens if a school ‘fails’ its inspection?

Ofsted says that all schools where a need for improvement is identified, meaning those with any evaluation area graded ‘attention needed’, will receive monitoring calls and visits to check that “timely action is being taken to raise standards”. The watchdog says that it will only monitor for as long as is necessary, to see a tangible difference for children. 

In the full proposal, Ofsted says that schools with multiple issues will be placed into one of two ‘categories of concern’ - which is a legal definition. Schools with widespread issues will be categorised as ‘special measures’, while schools with more specific (but still serious) issues will now be categorised as ‘requires significant improvement.’

To be flagged as needing special measures, a school will need to have a red ‘causing concern’ grade (or ‘not met’ for safeguarding) in at least one category, as well as in leadership. If leadership hasn’t been identified as an issue on top of something else, or is the only issue, the school will be categorised as ‘requires significant improvement’. Once this happens, it is up to the Department of Education what measures will be put in place to fix the problem.

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What has the feedback been so far?

So far, many education unions have been critical of the proposed changes. The National Education Union’s (NEU) general secretary Daniel Kebede said in a statement: “The proposals outlined in today’s consultation will make matters worse, not better. It will not deliver better information for parents or school leaders.

“The Secretary of State was right to remove one-word judgements, because she recognised the damage that they cause,” he continued. “It was made clear, following tragic circumstances, that a more supportive system was urgently required. Martyn Oliver has failed to deliver.”

Mr Kebede said that despite their high hopes, teachers feared the new system would be just as “crude” and lacking in nuance as the old assessment system. “We are concerned that inspectors categorising ten areas into five boxes in two days will exacerbate existing issues of inconsistency and unreliability. It is also plain to see that Ofsted’s plan does not address the mental health impact of the current ‘high stakes’ accountability systems on the profession.”

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) echoed the sentiment, with general secretary Paul Whiteman saying Ofsted “must do better than this”. He continued: “The plan to retain numbered sub-judgements risks replicating the worst aspects of the current system and will do little to reduce the enormous pressure school leaders are under.

“The decision to remove overarching judgements was absolutely the right one and we welcome the confirmation these will not be returning, but as school leaders made clear at the time, that must be a first step towards fundamental reform of a broken system. School leaders do not want to see evolution of a system that has caused so much harm over many years.”

The consultation period runs from 3 February to 28 April, and you can have your say by filling out Ofsted’s online questionnaire here. You can also share your thoughts on the new proposed system by leaving a comment below.