Corporate report

Ofsted Board minutes: 25 February 2026

Published 7 May 2026

Applies to England

Present

Dame Christine Gilbert (Chair)

Martyn Oliver (HMCI)

Felicity Gillespie

David Meyer

Sir Alan Wood

Jon Yates

Jo Coburn

Lucy Heller

Jo Moran

Frances Wadsworth

Baroness Laura Wyld

Executive attendance

Jason Bradbury (acting Director, Insights and Research) (items 3 to 12)

Louise Grainger (Chief Financial and Operating Officer) (items 3 to 12)

Lee Owston (National Director, Education) (items 3 to 12)

Sally Robinson (Deputy Director, Social Care Policy) (items 3 to 12)

Apologies

Martin Spencer

Principal Private Secretary to HMCI, Head of Private Office

Rory Gribbell (Director, Strategy and Engagement)

Yvette Stanley (National Director, Regulation and Social Care)

Department for Education Observer

Julia Kinniburgh (Director General, Schools Group, Department for Education) (items 1 to 8)

Also in attendance

Head of Strategic Priorities (item 8)

Executive support

Strategic Priorities Lead

Corporate Governance Officer

Status

Approved at the board meeting on 29 April 2026.

1. Welcome, apologies and declarations of interest

The chair opened the meeting and thanked board members for their attendance after the development session. She noted the apologies for the meeting.

Laura Wyld declared a new interest as a member of the House of Lords Childhood Vaccinations Committee. She declared that she had left the Public Services Committee (a Lords select committee) and also her role as adviser with AGL Communication.

David Meyer declared a new interest as an advisory board member for Resicare Alliance Limited.

Sir Alan Wood declared an interest as the author of the Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review.

2. Agree minutes, consider matters arising and action tracker

The minutes of the last meeting were approved as a correct record.

The chair raised several open actions from the action tracker. The board discussed and agreed induction and refresher sessions.

The chair reminded board members to share their DBS certificate with Ofsted.

Board members noted their interest in shadowing inspections in education and social care.

The board discussed actions arising from previous meetings and how these are monitored.

3. HMCI update

Julia Kinniburgh was welcomed as the new Director General for Schools Group at the Department for Education.

HMCI provided an update to the board on the delivery of his strategic objectives.

HMCI further updated the board on key activities across Ofsted including: the implementation of the renewed education inspection framework; speeches, external stakeholder and ministerial engagement; engagement with trade unions throughout the implementation of Ofsted reforms; regulatory and legal cases; learning reviews and changes to the corporate safeguarding team; Ofsted results for the cross Civil Service People Survey; and property updates.

The board discussed which board members will sit on Ofsted’s executive governance forums. The board agreed that:

• Sir Alan Wood will sit on Safeguarding Group
• Baroness Laura Wyld will sit on SCS Pay and Remuneration Committee; and
• David Meyer will sit on Ofsted Academy Committee

The board reflected on the sector feedback that they have received on the implementation of the renewed education inspection framework.

HMCI explained the feedback from the consultation which informed the reforms and the ways in which Ofsted is communicating the new scale to parents and education settings.

HMCI provided a safeguarding update relating to ongoing safeguarding cases.

HMCI explained recent changes to the assurance of safeguarding in early years: following the Spending Review, registration visits will happen sooner, the cycle for early years inspections has changed from 6 years to 4 years, and the toolkit for early years has been drafted to ensure early years setting must demonstrate a high standard of safeguarding.

4. Finance update

Louise Grainger (Chief Financial and Operating Officer) outlined Ofsted’s approach to monitoring and forecasting income and expenditure, and the factors affecting the 2025–26 financial position.

The board discussed the significant increase in children’s homes applications and the supply of social care regulatory inspectors.

The board considered Ofsted’s draft budget and anticipated income and funding for 2026–27. The board noted that the Spending Review has provided greater funding certainty for 2026–27 to 2028–29, which will support longer term planning and mitigation of strategic risk.

The chair indicated a timetable would be set for the 2027–28 budget which outlined key issues for consideration by both ARAC and the board.

Decision: The board recommended that HMCI approve the budget.

5. Social care inspection improvement

The board discussed the proposed changes to the inspection of local authority children’s services (ILACS) and the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) to be implemented in 2026. The board discussed how removing the overall effectiveness grade in ILACS will affect monitoring of local authorities which are currently ‘inadequate’ and the Department for Education’s policies for intervention.

The board noted the plans to consult on further changes to both frameworks and the activity the social care inspection policy team is undertaking with the Social Care External Advisory Group. The board discussed the importance of engaging with children as part of the consultation. The board also agreed on the importance of consulting on reforms which discourage the use of unlawful children’s homes and encourage local authorities and social care providers to work collaboratively to ensure that there are sufficient places for all looked after children, including those with the most complex needs.

The chair of the board provided an update on the chair’s Support and Challenge Working Group meetings on social care reforms.

The board thanked the social care team for the considerable activity they are undertaking, with speed, as part of the reforms to ILACS and SCCIF.

6. Education inspection improvement

The board received an update from Lee Owston, National Director, Education. They noted the ‘steady and assured start’ to inspections under the renewed framework. The board also noted the measures Ofsted has taken to hear from those who have experienced an inspection, a wider pool of professionals from each sector and inspectors themselves about the implementation of the renewed education inspection framework including: exit interviews, sector roundtables, inspector roundtables, and IFF Research’s independent research to monitor and evaluate the impact of the reforms, including via a baseline survey, focus groups and post-inspection monitoring survey.

The board discussed the use of the new inspection toolkits and the adoption of new report cards for early years, schools and further education and skills settings.

The board considered how the renewed education inspection framework is being applied with early years providers and the steps Ofsted has taken to ensure inspection is proportionate to setting and size. They reflected on the introduction of a nominee role in schools and the feedback Ofsted has heard about how this role is improving inspection experience. The board discussed the evaluation areas that schools are inspected against under the renewed framework. The board noted how having a report card for further education and skills settings was allowing for a more nuanced description of quality, especially for settings with multiple provision types.

The board discussed the feedback that they have received about how the renewed education inspection framework methodology feels more collaborative and transparent. They were advised that removing the overall effectiveness grade and having individual grades for each evaluation area was leading to a more nuanced approach to evaluating quality. It also allows a greater range of strengths to be recognised, even where one or two areas might still need attention. This nuanced approach to reporting better reflects the improvement journey as effective leaders recognise that there will always be aspects of practice that are relatively stronger or need more development than others.

The board discussed the weekly National Consistency Panel as one mechanism to ensure the more nuanced reporting was fair, consistent and ‘telling the story’ of each provider.

The board discussed the change from best fit to secure fit as a grading methodology and what it means in practice for reaching provisional decisions at the end of an inspection.

The board thanked the National Director, Education and the education remit team for all the work that they have done to introduce the renewed framework and reflected on the positive implementation to date.

7. Evaluation of the implementation and impact of the changes to education inspection

The board agreed to revisit this item at the next development session.

8. Engagement update

The board asked for an update on how Ofsted plans to track whether perceptions of its culture are improving over time. HMCI clarified that this would be measured through the independent evaluation of the renewed education inspection framework and through evidence collected from the post-inspection survey.

The board asked about actions for which the Department for Education are responsible. The board received an update on items related to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The board approved the draft Big Listen action monitoring report for publication.

9. Update from Audit Risk and Assurance Committee (ARAC)

The board senior member, Jon Yates, updated the board on activity at the 22 January ARAC meeting. The board discussed the changes to strategic risks and approved changes to some of the strategic risks.

The board approved all other changes recommended in the ARAC Risk Register paper.

10. Chair and board member update

The chair provided an update on the work she is doing on reviewing policies related to complaints about Ofsted.

11. Review of actions agreed at this meeting

The board agreed the summary of actions.

12. Any other business

No other business was raised.