Standard

Statement of administrative sources

Updated 25 October 2023

Applies to England

How Ofsted uses administrative data in official statistics

Ofsted publishes this statement of administrative sources as part of meeting its data governance and data quality obligations as set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. This statement identifies:

• the administrative systems currently used to produce official statistics
• processes that ensure that we take full account of the implications for official statistics when considering changes to administrative systems
• information on other administrative sources that aren’t currently used when producing official statistics but have the potential to be
• arrangements for providing statistical staff – whether inside Ofsted or elsewhere – with access to administrative data for statistical purposes
• arrangements for auditing the quality of administrative data used for statistical purposes
• arrangements for ensuring the security of statistical processes that draw on administrative data

Ofsted’s official statistics

The official statistics Ofsted publishes are mainly based on the aggregation of the number of inspections carried out and their outcomes and the details of education and care providers and institutions that are registered with Ofsted. Our data on inspection outcomes is drawn from our administrative systems.

Administrative sources used to produce statistics in Ofsted

Cygnum and Alternative inspection management service (AIMs) systems

Cygnum and AIMs are the names of the Ofsted databases we use as a source of official statistical releases.

The statistical releases that include data from these systems are:

• further education and skills inspections and outcomes
• non-association independent schools inspection outcomes
• initial teacher education inspections and outcomes
• state-funded schools inspections and outcomes
• children’s social care data in England: providers and places; local authority and provider inspections and outcomes
• childcare providers and inspections

Changes to systems

Changes to inspection frameworks and operational issues sometimes lead to changes to the databases. The change process involves agreeing specifications, and developing and testing changes to the system, followed by a final sign-off.

Data changes are tested by the information systems and policy teams, ensuring that those using the systems are involved in any important changes. Statistical staff are often involved in testing the impact of changes on reporting, which usually allows some advance notice of any discontinuities that may arise. These can be explained in the official statistics releases.

Staff access to databases

Staff involved in producing official statistics have access to data via Ofsted’s SQL-based data warehouse and a range of internal management information reporting products. Staff use the data warehouse for statistical purposes and access is controlled through a structured permissions process. User permissions are reviewed regularly.

Quality assurance processes for data

Several automated exception reports are in place to alert staff to data that may be inaccurate or incomplete. Statistical staff carry out additional manual quality assurance checks. This may include, for example, validation against previous releases, data held in inspection databases or data held by other government departments. The quality assurance is recorded against a checklist that statistical staff complete each time they compile official statistics.

Security of statistical processes that use inspection databases

Ofsted uses data on inspection outcomes for operational purposes.

Staff within Ofsted are granted access to the underlying data held in systems where necessary for them to perform their role. Inspection reports are published on the find an inspection report website, granting members of the public access to this data.

Access to the final version of a data set used in the production of a statistical release before publication is restricted to those involved in the quality assurance and production processes. The exception is the 24-hour access granted to those listed on the published pre-release access list. View our statement of compliance for pre-release access to official statistics.

Ofsted staff involved in the production of official statistics must complete training on information security and on identifying and managing the risk of disclosure of sensitive data.

Fostering Data Collection Portal 

We collect fostering data through the fostering data collection portal. This data is stored using secure cloud services. The data held is a source of fostering official statistics. 

Processes for dealing with actual or planned changes to the Fostering Data Collection Portal

The Fostering Data Collection Portal was built and is maintained by an external contractor. The change process involves agreeing specifications, and developing and testing changes to the system, followed by a final sign-off. Data changes are tested and quality assured by Ofsted staff. 

Processes to give staff access to the Fostering Data Collection Portal 

Staff involved in producing official statistics have direct access to the relevant site. Staff access secure cloud storage for statistical purposes by requesting access from the information asset owner. User permissions are reviewed regularly. 

Processes to quality assure the data taken from the Fostering Data Collection Portal 

Quality assurance checks via automated validation are part of the Fostering Data Collection online system. Agencies entering data onto the portal are required to sign-off the accuracy of their own data. Statistical staff assist the agencies with any issues or problems that continue after automated validation. Further quality assurance is done as part of the statistical production and is recorded in a checklist that statistical staff complete each time they compile official statistics. 

Arrangements to ensure the security of the statistical processes that draw on Fostering Data Collection data 

Local authorities and independent fostering agencies provide fostering data to Ofsted via a secure web portal. Once extracted from the Fostering Data Collection system the data is uploaded to a SQL database. Access to this data is restricted by controlled access permissions.

External data used in official statistics 

Ofsted uses some external data for reporting. This data is either fed into the Cygnum and AIMs systems or is held in separate SQL databases. As part of our production process for official statistics we may extract data from a database into spreadsheet format and store it securely in a controlled access folder.

Access to the final version of a data set used in the production of a statistical release, before publication, is restricted to those involved in the quality assurance and production processes. The exception is the 24-hour access granted to those listed on the published pre-release access list. View our statement of compliance for pre-release access to official statistics. 

The following are examples of sources of external data used by Ofsted: 

• Department for Education (DfE) – details of state-funded and independent schools, multi-academy trusts, initial teacher education partnerships and social care data that includes information on characteristics and placements of looked-after children, children in need, social workers and data from the National Pupil Database 
• Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) – details of providers that deliver education, training and apprenticeships to learners aged 14 to 16 and 16 to 19 
• Office for National Statistics – geographical data and Census 2021 data 

External data used in internal processes 

Separately to the publication of official statistics, Ofsted also uses a range of administrative data including data supplied and/or published by other bodies including the DfE, the ESFA and local authorities. 

Risk assessment 

Risk assessments of providers and other aspects of inspection planning and scheduling are internal processes that Ofsted uses to act using intelligence-led methods. Further details of how Ofsted plans inspections is available through our methodology note for further education and skills (FES) providers and our methodology note for state-funded schools. 

Production of pre-inspection briefings 

For social care, Area SEND, schools and FES we use administrative data sources to provide inspectors with data before an inspection. For example, for schools and FES providers, we use performance data from the DfE to create Inspection Data Summary Reports (IDSRs) and the FES intelligence tool. These are used to inform and guide inspectors before and during an inspection. The IDSRs are also made available to providers to facilitate discussions with inspectors and have conditions that limit access to authorised users. View guidance on using Ofsted’s IDSR, along with an example IDSR. 

Quality assurance of Ofsted data 

Ofsted collects data as part of registration of providers that it regulates and as part of inspections.

Registration data is collected directly from service providers and is quality assured to ensure that Ofsted is able to identify, contact and in many cases inspect providers, and meet its obligations to regulate education and care providers. 

Data collected during Ofsted inspections is recorded promptly into Ofsted systems. Regular quality checks are undertaken on inspection data. Inspected providers are asked to comment on the factual accuracy of an inspection report before publication. 

Inspection outcomes are entered onto our systems by the lead inspector. As inspection reports undergo a quality assurance process, any errors are likely to be identified at this stage. The content of inspection reports is quality assured through a dedicated process, separate from production of statistics. Our quality assurance team also check a selection of entries to ensure the quality of data entry. 

The quality assurance team focus on checking entries where the risk of error is highest. An example of this is where the inspection judgement changes during the quality assurance process.

Quality assurance of data from external sources 

The data we receive from other government departments and external agencies is supported through service level agreements (SLAs) , memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and data-sharing protocols. These agreements and protocols put in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure that data is: 

• stored, used and disposed of in a safe manner 
• accessed only by those who have signed the individual declaration form (where the MOU requires it) and have received relevant training 
• not released ahead of official statistics, where applicable 
• robust and accurate and has agreed processes for raising any issues and concerns 

Where Ofsted received data from external agencies, for example, the National Pupil Database (NPD) provided by the DfE, the team leader completes a declaration stating how Ofsted will use the data and how we will comply with any requirements specified by the owner of the data. These include ‘permitted use of data’, ‘standard disclosure control’ and ‘special conditions’. Before sharing data, SLAs or MOUs are put in place between Ofsted and the relevant external agency.

Each SLA contains the specific data sets, conditions for processing (including legal gateways), dates for destruction and agreed permitted users. The list of permitted users is maintained internally and shared with DfE. Individual declaration forms are signed annually to confirm that they agree to the terms of use and have completed data security and protection training. 

The DfE has specific dates for destruction for different datasets. We keep trackers internally to monitor this, which include destruction logs. The DfE also alerts Ofsted to when data needs to be destroyed. If Ofsted requires the data for longer than the initial agreed date, an extension of use will be justified and submitted to the DfE. The relevant team leader within Ofsted is responsible for confirming data destruction or justifying any extension.

Ofsted also works with data suppliers to improve the quality of the data collected before we enter it into Ofsted systems. A series of validation checks are carried out at source to minimise errors. Ofsted carries out additional quality assurance checks on data received. 

Communication with data suppliers ensures that Ofsted is informed of any issues as they arise. This allows Ofsted to manage the use of data where there are known issues. 

Ofsted has comprehensive arrangements in place for ensuring the security of statistical processes that draw on administrative data. 

Further information on data quality can be found in the quality reports released alongside Ofsted official statistics.

Jason Bradbury
Head of Profession for Statistics
Ofsted
October 2023