Selecting new schools and schools that undergo significant change for inspection
This guide explains how we select new schools and schools that undergo significant changes for inspection.
Applies to England
Introduction
This guidance explains how Ofsted selects new schools for inspection. It also explains how we select for inspection those schools that have undergone significant change, such as the addition of a key stage, phase or the merger with another school.
New schools
Ofsted defines a new school as a school with a new unique reference number (URN). The Department for Education (DfE) provides all schools with a URN. If a school changes its status or undergoes significant change and receives a new URN, it legally becomes a new school, and so judgements and associated Ofsted logos of the predecessor school are not those of the new school. If the school retains its URN following a change, it remains the same school. The following explains this in more detail.
Academies account for most new schools. These include:
- free schools
- former maintained schools that have voluntarily converted to become academies (academy converters)
- former maintained schools that were judged as inadequate by Ofsted and were directed by the Secretary of State to become academies and join a trust
Re-brokered academies
Academies that transfer from one academy trust to another are known as ‘re-brokered’ academies.
An academy that is re-brokered to a new academy trust for performance reasons may receive a new URN and legally become a new school. However, an academy that is re-brokered to a new academy trust for non-performance reasons normally retains its existing URN and legally remains the same school. The decision on whether an academy keeps its URN is made at the discretion of the DfE’s regional director.
Exceptionally, the DfE’s regional director may agree for re-brokered academies to retain their existing URN, or receive a new URN, regardless of their reasons for re-brokering.
Merged schools
The legal status of a maintained school or academy that merges with another school will depend on whether the merged school has received a new URN. If the school has retained the URN of one of the merged schools, it is not legally a new school, but an existing school that has incorporated another school that has closed. If the merged school receives a new URN, it is legally a new school.
Schools that were formerly exempt from routine inspection before November 2020
From 13 November 2020, outstanding schools that were formerly exempt from routine inspection, including exempt academy converters, are subject to routine inspection. These formerly exempt outstanding schools are not new schools and still retain their existing URN. The timings for inspections of formerly exempt outstanding schools are set out in the school inspection handbook.
16 to 19 academies
We inspect 16 to 19 academies and 16 to 19 free schools using the further education and skills inspection handbook.
When we inspect new schools
The first inspection of new schools will usually take place within 3 years of their opening. We will not normally select a new school for its first inspection until it is in its third year of operation. These arrangements apply to all new schools that are yet to have their first graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 (the Act). The ‘Inspection and the COVID-19 pandemic’ section provides further details on how this arrangement, and the other arrangements outlined below, have been temporarily changed.
Academy converters and ungraded inspections (under section 8 of the Act)
New academy converters, whose predecessor schools were judged good or outstanding at their last graded inspection, will normally receive an ungraded inspection as their first inspection instead of a graded inspection. However, these schools remain subject to a graded inspection if we deem it necessary.
We will normally carry out ungraded inspections of academy converters approximately every 4 years. This is in line with ungraded inspections of other good and outstanding schools. However, in the case of the first ungraded inspection of a new academy with a good predecessor school, we will consider the inspection history of the predecessor school to decide the timing of the inspection. For example, if the last inspection of the predecessor school took place some years before academy conversion, we may deem that the school would benefit from an earlier ungraded inspection. Further details on the policy for ungraded inspections are included in the school inspection handbook.
Note that for inspections of academy converters that were formerly exempt from routine inspection because their predecessor schools were judged outstanding, it will be the most recent inspection of the academy or, where it has not yet been inspected, the most recent inspection of the school’s predecessor school(s), that will determine when the first inspection will take place, and if it is to be carried out as a graded or ungraded inspection. Further details are set out in the school inspection handbook.
Academy converters where we recommended a graded inspection for the predecessor school
There are some new academy converters whose predecessor school was judged good with evidence that it may have improved to outstanding at its most recent ungraded inspection. We informed the predecessor school that its next inspection would be a graded inspection, but it did not receive the inspection before conversion. Therefore, the new academy converter will receive a graded inspection as its first inspection.
Similarly, some new academy converters have a predecessor school that received an ungraded inspection and the lead inspector was not satisfied that the school would receive at least its current grade if a graded inspection was carried out at that time. We informed the predecessor school that its next inspection would be a graded inspection, but it did not receive the inspection before conversion. The new academy converter will receive a graded inspection as its first inspection.
In both these circumstances, the graded inspection will normally take place:
- no later than the predecessor school would have received the graded inspection if it had not converted to an academy; but
- no earlier than 1 year after the new academy opens
Sponsor-led academies
We treat maintained schools that become sponsor-led academies, and whose predecessor schools were most recently judged good or outstanding, as new schools for inspection purposes. They are subject to a graded inspection as their first inspection. This will normally take place within 3 years of the school becoming a sponsor-led academy.
Schools that undergo significant change
Good and outstanding schools
If a school judged good or outstanding at its previous inspection subsequently undergoes significant change, for example through merging with another school or by adding a new phase or key stage, its next inspection will normally be a graded inspection instead of an ungraded inspection.
For schools that have merged with another school, this assumes that the good or outstanding school remains open and incorporates another school that closes. In these cases, the good or outstanding school retains its URN, and so is not legally a new school.
The graded inspection will normally take place within 3 years of the change, or sooner if the prescribed statutory timeframe for inspection falls before then. The statutory timeframe is within 5 school years from the end of the school year in which the previous graded inspection (or the previous ungraded inspection) took place. However, please see the section ‘Inspections and the COVID-19 pandemic’ below. If we judge the expanded school to be good or outstanding at this inspection, it will be eligible for an ungraded inspection (rather than another graded inspection) approximately 4 years later.
New schools with certain pupils not yet on roll when they open
Some new schools that are registered to teach pupils in a particular phase or key stage do not actually have pupils of that age range on roll when they open.
When these schools begin to place pupils on roll for that phase or key stage, we do not regard this as a significant change because the school is already registered for that phase or key stage. It is only when schools change their registration to add a new phase or key stage that we will regard it as a significant change.
Urgent inspections when we have concerns
We may carry out an urgent inspection (under section 8 of the Act) of any new school at any time, including within 3 years of opening, if information that we hold or receive causes sufficient concern. Under section 9 of the Act, inspectors may deem these inspections to be graded inspections if they identify concerns to warrant this during the urgent inspection.
Non-association independent schools
This policy document does not apply to fee-paying independent schools, which are covered by separate inspection arrangements. You can find further details in ‘How Ofsted inspects non-association independent schools’.
Inspection and the COVID-19 pandemic
Routine inspections of schools were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Routine inspections resumed from summer term 2021 and a full programme of graded inspections resumed from September 2021. Schools that were last inspected before the start of the pandemic can expect their first routine inspection to be up to 6 terms later than they would have been inspected. New schools that opened before September 2020 and that have not had their first inspection can expect to be inspected by the end of their fifth year of operation. Schools that have undergone a significant change can expect their next graded inspection to be up to 6 terms later than it would normally have taken place. This is due to the suspension of routine inspection activity as a result of COVID-19. In our blogpost ‘When will my school be inspected?’, we provide further clarity on when schools can expect their next inspection, in addition to the information set out in this guidance.
Last updated 1 September 2022 + show all updates
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Minor updates to reflect the names of inspection types (graded and ungraded).
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Added further information on new schools, re-brokered academies, merged schools, academy converter schools, the position of formerly exempt schools and changes to inspection intervals for new schools as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Updated the 'Inspection and the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic' section to clarify the position for new schools.
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Update to the 'Inspection and the COVID-19 pandemic' section to reflect changes to inspection intervals following the pandemic.
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Updated the 'Academy converters' and 'Schools that undergo significant change' sections, and added a new section about inspection and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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First published.