Guidance

Thematic reviews of children not in school in local areas

Published 14 January 2025

Applies to England

Introduction

Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) jointly inspect the arrangements in local areas for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). 

As part of the area SEND framework, Ofsted and CQC complete a series of thematic visits each academic year. The visits investigate a particular aspect of the SEND system in depth, in a small number of areas.

Ofsted and CQC carried out thematic visits to investigate alternative provision (AP) in 2023 and preparation for adulthood (PfA) in 2024.

Purpose of the 2025 thematic visits

The theme that we will explore in 2025 is children who are not in school. The purpose of the 2025 thematic visits is to better understand:

• how local area partnerships work together to meet the needs of children not in school across health, education and children’s social care
• the reasons why children with SEND leave full-time education, and what schools are doing to support them to remain in school
• the role and impact of local authorities in supporting children with SEND to receive a suitable education
• the role and impact of social care in supporting children with SEND who are not in school and are in need of help and protection
• the role and impact of health providers in meeting the health needs of children with SEND who are not in school
• how local authorities support children not in school, particularly hard-to-reach children and families, including where there are safeguarding concerns
• parents’, children’s, practitioners’ and leaders’ views about why children are not in school and how their needs are being met

For the purposes of these visits, we will define ‘children not in school’ as children with SEND, of compulsory school age, who are not registered pupils at a registered independent school or any type of state-funded school. ^{[footnote 1]}

Children who are on a school roll but are flexi-schooled, on a part-time timetable, receiving education otherwise than at school (EOTAS) or who are severely absent will also be included within the scope of these thematic visits.

These visits will provide insights for Ofsted, CQC, national government, strategic leaders and frontline education, health and social care practitioners. They will be used to promote improvement in the sector and update our approach to inspection, as appropriate. Where we identify relevant insights on our visits, we will share these with the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to contribute to their policy development.

We will not be making judgements about individual areas during these visits, although we will share our findings in a national report. We plan to publish the report in autumn 2025. The national report will list the local areas visited, but we will not attribute findings to individual areas.

Focus of the 2025 thematic visits

Ofsted and CQC will look at the arrangements that local area partnerships have in place to oversee children with SEND who are not in school. We will also check what support is in place to help them to transition back into formal education where appropriate. Inspectors from area SEND inspections have often highlighted the growing numbers of children not in school as an area of concern. These thematic visits provide the opportunity to understand the experiences of children and families in far greater detail. Furthermore, the visits will help to identify the enablers and the challenges faced by partners who provide support to these children.

The rising number of children not in school has received significant national attention in recent years. For example, reports from the Children’s Commissioner, Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services have each outlined the growing population of children not in school and the lack of oversight of many of these children. The DfE has promised to make laws that make it a duty of local authorities to have and maintain registers of children not in school and to provide support to home-educating parents.

The visits will focus on the impact of support that local area partnerships are providing for children with SEND who are not in school, and their families, to meet their education, health and care needs. This will include how children are supported to return to school where appropriate, the availability of universal and specialist health services and the extent to which relevant information is shared with partners once a child is not in school. The purpose of the visits is not for inspectors to assess compliance with legal duties in relation to children and young people with SEND. If, however, inspectors do identify significant concerns during the visits, it may lead to further activity, including inspection.

Inspectors will gather evidence from a range of stakeholders. They will seek to understand the experiences of:

• children with SEND and their families, including:
  • children who are missing from education and children who are electively home educated
  • children who are on a school roll but are flexi-schooled on a part-time basis, or are severely absent ^{[footnote 2]}
  • children attending unregistered AP
  • children who receive special educational provision through EOTAS arrangements^{[footnote 3]}
  • children who have returned to education in the last 6 months having met our definition of a child not in school
• strategic leaders, including:
  • those who commission, or support the commissioning of, services that provide support for children not in school
  • those who are involved in area-wide strategic planning for children not in school, which includes knowing their destination and providing support
• delivery partners, including:
  • providers and practitioners that deliver education to school-age children
  • health and social care providers that support all children in a local area

Leaders and/or practitioners may always be accompanied by a colleague of their choice when speaking to inspectors if they wish. However, it is important that they can express their views freely to inspectors.

Scope of the 2025 thematic visits

The scope of the thematic visits will be children with SEND who:

• are of statutory school age
• have an education, health and care (EHC) plan, are receiving special educational needs (SEN) support or received SEN support before leaving a school roll
• are a child not in school, or have been a child not in school in the last 6 months
• are waiting for a diagnostic assessment

Themes of the 2025 visits

We will seek to better understand 5 key themes:

Information-sharing

• the extent to which local partners share information about a child’s change in circumstances because they have either left a school roll or no longer attend school full time
• how partners join up to make sure that education and health provision are in place when a child is no longer, or has never been, on a school roll
• how partners share information to meet a child’s social care needs when a child is no longer, or has never been, on a school roll
• how local area partners work together to use data to improve outcomes for children with SEND who are not in school or at risk of exclusion

Access to health services

• whether children with SEND have their health needs met when they are not attending school full time
• the availability of health services for children not in school and how these services are commissioned
• parents’ or carers’ understanding of relevant health services available when their child is not in school
• how health services are meeting the needs of children who have additional needs but do not have a formal diagnosis

Oversight of provision

• the oversight of children with SEND moving into and out of education provision
• the support offered by local area partners, including educational support, to children with SEND who are home educated or not registered at a school
• the monitoring, evaluation and oversight arrangements for children not in school, including those on part-time timetables or placed in an unregistered AP setting
• how local area partners know whether children’s needs are identified accurately and assessed in a timely and effective way when those children are not in school

Enablers of, and barriers to, children remaining in education

• the reasons for a child with SEND not being in school (including EOTAS arrangements and the use of unregistered AP) in situations that include where they have been excluded, where suspected off-rolling has taken place or where they are not attending full time
• the experiences of parents and carers of children with complex health needs who do not think that the school can support their child’s needs
• the support that schools put in place to keep children with SEND in school or to re-integrate them into full-time education where appropriate
• how local area partners are supporting children and their families who are not in school to return to full-time education where it is in their best interests

Children not in school who need help and protection

• how local authorities, education settings and health partners understand their safeguarding responsibilities for children with SEND who are not in school
• the barriers that local partners face to fulfilling their safeguarding duties for children not in school
• the oversight of children in need or those on a child protection plan who are not in school. This includes those with an EHC plan, or receiving SEN support, who need targeted or specialist health intervention
• the oversight of and support provided to children in care, with an EHC plan or receiving SEN support, who are not in school, and who need targeted or specialist health intervention

To support our visits, we will request information from the local area partnerships, as set out in Annex A. We do not expect local authorities, health partners and other agencies to gather all this information, particularly where the destination of a child is unknown. We expect them to provide only information that they already hold.

The legal context

Ofsted will carry out and lead these visits in response to a direction from the Secretary of State for Education under section 118(2) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Sections 118(5) and (6) allow us to use powers of entry/powers to consider information contained in other statutes to fulfil any such request. This includes section 20 of the Children Act 2004, the Children Act 2004 (Joint Area Reviews) Regulations 2015 (JAR Regulations) and section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

CQC will assist Ofsted under paragraph 9(1) of schedule 4 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. If the visits involve examining the provision of NHS care or CQC-regulated activities for children and young people with SEND, CQC will provide the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with information and advice about this care, as required by their commission under section 53(1) and (4) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. CQC will exercise powers of entry and inspect documents, as set out in sections 62 to 64 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Composition of the team

The team will usually be made up of 3 inspectors: 1 His Majesty’s Inspector (HMI) from education, 1 HMI from social care and 1 CQC inspector from health. The thematic visits are quality assured by Ofsted and CQC. Typically, quality assurance is carried out remotely.

Length and timing of thematic visits

Each visit will typically consist of up to 4 days’ off-site activity and up to 4 days’ on-site activity. The visits are planned to take place between spring and summer 2025.

Inspectors will have the flexibility to reduce the number of off-site and/or on-site days when appropriate, such as when visiting a smaller local area where there are fewer children.

Selection of local areas for thematic visits

Ofsted and CQC will select a varied sample of local areas to visit. We will be considerate of other inspection activity when selecting these areas.

Overview of visit activity

The Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care have commissioned Ofsted to provide information and advice about oversight arrangements and support provided for children not in school in local areas in England. Inspectors will draw together information from across education, health and care services, from third-sector organisations and from children and their families. We have set out the legal powers to request and view this information above. We will share information about how we handle personal data when we contact participants, including in notification letters.

The thematic visits will usually follow the structure set out below. The exact timetable will be put together by the lead inspector and local area leaders in consultation with colleagues in health and care.

Adjustments to arrangements and timings, including the notification call, may be necessary when there is a public holiday during this time.

The survey referred to in the ‘Activities in week 1’ section will gather stakeholders’ views in relation to children not in school in their local area. The survey will go live on the notification day, 10 days before the on-site visit begins, and will remain live until the last on-site day of the visit.

Activities in week 1 (10 days before the on-site fieldwork)

Activities include:

• inspectors notify local area leaders of the visit 10 working days before the on-site fieldwork begins
• inspectors share a link to the survey for local area leaders to distribute
• inspectors and local area leaders hold a set-up discussion, carried out virtually
• inspectors request information from the local authority and a sample of other partners to support the visit (see Annex A of this guidance)
• local area leaders make reasonable efforts to distribute the survey to relevant stakeholders
• the local area shares information to support the visit
• inspectors carry out off-site planning and pre-visit analysis
• inspectors select individual children for tracking meetings
• inspectors select providers to visit

Activities in week 2 (5 days before the on-site fieldwork)

Activities include:

• local area partners provide further information for tracking meetings
• inspectors work with local area leaders to agree a timetable
• a nominated representative arranges the visits and meetings
• inspectors begin off-site evidence-gathering and evaluation

Activities in week 3

Activities include:

• inspectors conduct on-site evidence-gathering
• inspectors discuss visit observations with local area leaders

Information about the processes before, during and after the visits

Ofsted and CQC inspectors will review relevant information held by the inspectorates about the oversight arrangements for children with SEND who are not in school in the local area.

Week 1: notification, set-up discussion, information request and analysis

Notification

Ten working days before on-site evidence-gathering, inspectors will contact the relevant leaders in the local area to notify them of the visit.

• Ofsted will contact the director of children’s services (DCS)
• CQC will notify the chief executive of the Integrated Care Board (ICB)

The lead inspector will work with the DCS to nominate a representative – the local area nominated officer (LANO) – who will act as a single point of contact throughout the visit. The LANO will act on behalf of those involved in oversight of and support for children with SEND who are not in school and who live in the local area, linking with the identified ICB representative.

The LANO and ICB representative will liaise with the lead inspector throughout the visit, so that activities can be coordinated effectively.

Ofsted and CQC will only defer the visit to a local area in exceptional circumstances. If a local area has a concern about the timing of a visit, it may submit a deferral request in line with the principles set out in Ofsted’s deferral policy.

Set-up discussion

Once the visit has been confirmed, the lead inspector and the CQC inspector will make an extended telephone call to the LANO and ICB representative. The lead inspector will make it clear that the LANO and the ICB representative are encouraged to have someone present during the call to assist and support them if they wish. This should be at least one other senior leader who typically deputises for them and can understand and discuss the content of the call.

The purpose of this call is to:

• check on the leaders’ well-being and determine whether any steps need to be taken to make sure that any issues or concerns are addressed and that appropriate support is available. The lead inspector should ascertain how to contact those responsible for the leaders’ well-being on a day-to-day basis, so that they can pass on concerns about their well-being when appropriate and necessary
• discuss the local area’s context
• discuss the arrangements for the visit, including a proposed timetable of activities; arrangements for talking to children and families; the key officers and representatives to involve in specific meetings; and the purpose of proposed activities
• agree that there will be regular discussions to confirm the main messages gathered in evidence and to check arrangements for the day
• discuss the arrangements for distributing the surveys. The lead inspector will coordinate with the LANO to ensure the widest distribution of the surveys, which should capture the experiences of as many children as possible
• discuss the information requested for the visit (see Annex A)
• ask that the key stakeholders involved in the oversight or provision of support for children with SEND who are not in school and services are made aware of the visit, including providers, parents and carers

Survey arrangements

We will make the links to the surveys available to gather stakeholders’ views about the oversight of and support for children with SEND in their area who are not in school. The surveys will go live on the day when local leaders are notified of the visit and will remain live until the last on-site day of the visit. The LANO will be responsible for the distribution of the survey to local stakeholders.

During the visits, the lead inspector will work with the LANO to ensure that – as far as possible – the surveys are made available to:

• all children with SEND who are of statutory school age
• parents and carers of children with SEND who are of statutory school age
• all settings and services that are involved in the oversight of or support for children with SEND in the area who are not in school

Inspectors will work with those distributing the surveys to consider accessibility issues.

We will use the evidence we collect through surveys primarily to inform our final national report. Findings will not be attributed to any specific area. We will also review survey responses periodically. If we identify any significant concerns through this, we will respond as set out in the significant concerns section.

Off-site analysis

Inspectors will review the information requested from the local area and other partners, listed in Annex A.

Week 1, Monday

Inspectors will request the information set out in Annex A.

Week 1, Thursday, by 5pm

The local area will provide:

• pseudonymised person-level data to assist inspectors in selecting children to track
• a list of education, health and social care providers and settings to assist inspectors in selecting the providers that will have sampling visits
• requested information about children with SEND who are not in school

Week 1, Friday, by 5pm

Inspectors will select children’s cases to be tracked.

Preparing for evidence-gathering activity

Inspectors will arrange with the LANO and ICB representative to meet with those involved in area-wide strategic planning (if this exists) relating to children with SEND who are not in school. This meeting will take place at the end of week 2.

Selection of children for tracking meetings

During week 1, inspectors will select approximately 3 children to be involved in tracking meetings, which will take place in week 3. These are meetings with children and their parents or carers, if appropriate, and the practitioners directly involved with them. The meetings are for inspectors to hear directly about children’s experiences and outcomes, particularly those of vulnerable groups of children working with multiple agencies, such as children in care and/or those with health needs.

When selecting the children to track, inspectors will consider information shared by local area leaders, the demographic make-up of the local area, including protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010, and any contextual issues specific to the local area.

Once children have been selected, the LANO will: 

• arrange for a practitioner who knows the child well to approach the child, and their parents or carers, to discuss their involvement in tracking meetings
• share any further information about the child that may be relevant
• arrange tracking meetings with children and their parents and carers
• arrange a multi-disciplinary tracking meeting with the practitioners who are/have been directly involved with the child. This can include practitioners across education, health and social care and any third-sector involvement

Selection of providers for sampling visits

During week 1, inspectors will select a number of providers to visit, to review the experiences of a wider group of children. When choosing providers to visit, inspectors will seek to consider those who support children with SEND and who we define as ‘not in school’. This may include the school at which a child is still on roll, or a setting where they are receiving part of their education.

These sampling visits enable inspectors to gather information about the impact of the local area’s arrangements on a wider group of children. Inspectors will seek to understand children’s experiences and outcomes by talking to practitioners and reviewing documents. While we may include our observations from the visit in the national report to be published at the end of the thematic visits, we will not use the information gathered to make judgements about individual local areas or individual providers.

The lead HMI will provide the LANO with notification letters to send to the chosen providers. Inspectors will identify the settings they want to visit based on the information provided by the local area partnership (see Annex A). The lead HMI will provide the LANO with notification letters to send to the chosen providers. The LANO and identified ICB representative will make the necessary arrangements for inspectors to visit the settings.

Week 2: off-site analysis, creating an on-site timetable, evidence-gathering begins

Creating the timetable

The Ofsted lead inspector will coordinate the creation of a timetable for gathering evidence off site in week 2, and on site in week 3. They will work jointly with the CQC inspector and social care inspector to create the timetable, in collaboration with the LANO and ICB representative. This process will include arrangements for meetings with practitioners and leaders to discuss their work, and with children and their parents or carers to discuss their experiences. Inspectors will also arrange keeping-in-touch meetings and a debrief at the end of the week to share visit findings.

When creating the timetable, the Ofsted lead inspector and CQC lead inspector will: 

• consider which activities should be carried out in person, and which should be carried out by phone or video call
• include enough time for inspectors to travel between appointments
• include time for inspectors to review and analyse the information gathered, individually and together
• ensure that the timetable is flexible enough to be changed in response to emerging observations
• work with the LANO and ICB representative to ensure that local leaders and practitioners are aware of the timetable and any changes to it

Inspectors will meet during week 2 to confirm the plan for the visit and discuss any final arrangements with the LANO.

Meetings to discuss local strategic planning

Inspectors will have discussions with those involved in area-wide strategic planning for supporting children with SEND who are not in school, including those who have been involved in:

• developing plans
• overseeing plans
• communicating strategic plans with the local area
• incorporating strategic planning into performance measures

Inspectors will also want to understand how local strategic planning is having an impact on the work of managers and frontline practitioners and supporting children directly.

These discussions may include any of the following who have been involved in the strategic development of support for children with SEND who are not in school and the commissioning of services for children:

• representatives from the local authority, education and social care
• representatives from health
• representatives from the third sector
• children with SEND and their families
• the virtual school headteacher

Discussions with parents and carers

Inspectors will meet remotely with parents and carers who have agreed to participate, to:

• understand their experiences
• understand the impact of the local arrangements for children with SEND who are not in school
• understand how services in the local area engage with parents and carers and the impact this engagement has
• identify any common themes that inspectors may wish to explore further during visits

Inspectors will meet with parents and carers as part of the tracking meetings in week 3. They may also arrange to meet with or talk to other parents and carers, to discuss relevant themes and their individual experiences, or to seek their views on a specific aspect of the local arrangements for children with SEND who are not in school.

Week 2, Monday, by 5pm

The lead inspector will ask the LANO to coordinate the sharing with the inspection team of information about the children who are being tracked. We do not expect local areas to provide exhaustive information, but information should include, where available:  

• a chronology of significant events relating to the education, health and social care of the child
• a pen portrait of the child, including information about their needs, aspirations and support

Inspectors will ask for further information, including:

• the most recent children’s assessments
• the most recent plans, including an EHC plan, annual reviews, a personal education plan or pathway/care plan, where relevant
• commissioning arrangements relating to the use of registered or unregistered AP, if applicable

Inspectors will not keep a written record of the identity of the children they speak to.

Week 3: tracking meetings, sampling visits and discussions

Discussions with children

Inspectors will meet with children to:

• understand their experiences and outcomes
• understand how services in the local area engage with children, and the impact of this engagement
• identify any common themes to explore further during sampling visits

Inspectors will speak with children as part of the tracking meetings in week 2. They may arrange to meet with other children to explore relevant themes, discuss their individual experiences or seek their views on a specific aspect of local arrangements for supporting children with SEND who are not in school. Children and their parents and carers can opt out of meetings at any time.

Inspectors will not keep a written record of the identity of the children who they speak to.

Tracking meetings with children, parents and carers

Inspectors will use tracking meetings to gather information about the impact of the local strategy and commissioning of services to support children with SEND who are not in school and to help them return to mainstream or specialist education, where appropriate. Tracking meetings enables inspectors to understand children’s experiences and the reasons why they are not in school. Inspectors will consider how decisions have been made, how children and their families have been involved, and the extent to which the needs of children have been met.

Tracking meetings will help inspectors to establish themes they wish to explore through further on-site activity. The information provided by the local area and other partners, and from meetings with leaders, practitioners, parents and carers, and groups of children, will also feed into the themes that inspectors choose to explore further during on-site activity. This further on-site activity may include meetings with stakeholders and sampling the experiences of more children with a range of education, health and social care needs and across a range of ages.

Inspectors will discuss the child’s experiences, why they are no longer in school, the support available to them and the professionals involved. They will ask the LANO to work with practitioners and families to understand how inspectors can best support the child to share their experiences. Inspectors may also discuss the child’s experiences with their parents and/or carers, either with or separately from their child, depending on the age of the child and the family’s preferences.

Multi-agency tracking meetings with practitioners

Inspectors will have a multi-agency discussion with education, health and social care professionals who work with the child. The lead inspector will ask the LANO and ICB representative to ensure that the professionals involved in the discussion include staff who have the greatest awareness of the child’s plan.

Inspectors may discuss a child’s records with practitioners, using their knowledge of the child, file structure and recording systems. They may also consider any case supervision notes. Where case records are held wholly or partly electronically, the service should arrange for identified inspectors to have secure access to the electronic system.

Inspectors will base their findings on recent information that affects the child’s current situation. However, inspectors may ask for historical information to help them understand the factors that led to the child not being in school.

Sampling meetings

Inspectors will have sampling meetings with education, health and social care professionals.

Inspectors will discuss the partnership’s oversight of children not in school and ask questions to better understand the impact on children with SEND. Inspectors will also review records relating to children to identify enabling factors and barriers to their being in school.

Sampling visits to providers and services

During sampling visits, inspectors will visit a specific provider or service and ask for information about children’s experiences.

The settings that inspectors choose to visit may include, but are not limited to, a registered independent school (such as an academy school) or a school maintained by a local authority, a pupil referral unit or an unregistered setting that offers AP. Inspectors may also want to speak to services that provide support to children with SEND who are not in school, such as school nursing services, primary care providers or education welfare teams within the local authority.

Inspectors will choose the children to speak to during sampling visits, where this is possible. These may include children who have a specific need, who are receiving a specific service and/or who are at a particular point in their care or education.

They may choose the children before the visit, using the information provided by local area partners. Alternatively, they may ask practitioners to show them records based on certain criteria established from emerging themes and they will choose the children to speak to accordingly. Inspectors may or may not invite children to meet with them.

Inspectors will look at any other relevant documents relating to the children. They will discuss their experiences and outcomes with the practitioners in that provision or service and/or those who are directly involved in the commissioning, decision-making and oversight of the provision and support. Inspectors may also look at children’s recorded supervision notes. Where children’s records are held wholly or partly electronically, the provider should arrange for the inspectors to have secure access to the electronic system.

Findings will be based on contemporary practice and on practice that has an impact on the child’s current situation. However, inspectors may ask for historical information to help them understand the reasons why a child is not in school.

Discussions with leaders and practitioners who support children with SEND who are not in school

Inspectors will hold meetings with leaders and frontline practitioners working with children. They will want to understand the provision and services available to children with SEND who are not in school.

Visit inspector team meetings

The team will meet at different points during the visit, either remotely or in person. In particular, the team should, as far as is practicable, meet each day to discuss and record observations and ensure that the lead inspector has the most recent information to reflect on with the LANO and ICB representative.

During the final team meeting, inspectors will discuss what they observed and what they were told in preparation for a summary conversation with local area leaders.

Regular discussions

At the heart of our visits is a professional dialogue between inspectors and leaders. The lead inspector will establish arrangements for regular discussions at key points during the visit. This will enable the inspection team to share their observations with the DCS, the ICB representative and the LANO, identify any additional information required, answer any questions and make changes to the timetable if necessary.

Inspectors may work with the LANO and ICB representative to arrange additional meetings with leaders and/or practitioners throughout the on-site visit. This will enable inspectors to further explore emerging themes identified through tracking meetings or sampling visits.

Debrief with local area leaders

We will share our observations with local area leaders verbally during the visit, at appropriate points, and at the end of a visit during a debrief meeting.

The debrief meeting with local area leaders will include a summary of observations and reflective discussion.

The lead inspector will liaise with the DCS and the ICB representative, through the LANO, to agree who attends this meeting. This may include local area leaders involved in commissioning education, training and services, and overseeing and/or delivering for children not in school.

Additional members of staff may attend at the discretion of the lead inspector.

After the visit

We will not make or report judgements about local areas based on evidence gathered during the visit.

Summary note

Following the debrief with local area leaders, the local authority will receive a summary note with a record of the activities carried out (see example). The note will not be evaluative, and there will be no judgements or recommendations.

Reporting

Ofsted and CQC will share the observations from these visits in a single national report. The national report will list the local areas visited. We will not attribute findings to individual areas unless the areas agree to be identified. No report will include any personal information about an individual child, parent or carer.

Significant concerns

Inspectors should follow the principles set out in Safeguarding concerns: guidance for inspectors. If they are concerned about a child or young person, they should follow existing procedures.

If inspectors remain concerned, Ofsted and/or CQC will consider whether it is appropriate to take further action. This could include, if appropriate, inspectors referring individual children’s cases to the local authority or requesting an inspection of the individual service or provider in line with Ofsted’s or CQC’s statutory and regulatory duties and powers.

If inspectors identify other serious concerns, they will also notify a senior officer from the local authority as soon as possible. Ofsted and CQC will consider this information, and it may lead to further activity, including inspection.

Conduct and complaints

During the visit, inspectors will need to speak to a range of people. They will do so in line with our code of conduct and act at all times with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect. Inspectors should take careful account of the well-being of leaders and staff and adjust their approach or activity, as appropriate, as they go about their work during the visit. If inspectors see or suspect that a staff member (including any leader) is upset or distressed at any point during the visit, inspectors should respond sensitively. Where appropriate, inspectors will consider suitable adjustments to enable the staff member to continue. Where appropriate, inspectors will inform those responsible for the person’s well-being. The lead inspector should contact the duty desk to discuss what action to take. There may be exceptional occasions in which a pause to the visit needs consideration. We will consider these on a case-by-case basis.

The great majority of our work is carried out smoothly and without incident. If concerns do arise during the visit, they should be raised with the lead inspector as soon as possible in order to resolve issues before the visit is completed. Any concerns raised and actions taken will be recorded as part of the evidence collected during the visits. If an issue remains unresolved, the local area partnership can contact a senior Ofsted leader after the visit, using the phone number provided at notification.

If it is not possible to resolve concerns during the visit, through a phone call after the visit, or through submitting comments in response to the draft summary note, the local area partnership may wish to lodge a formal complaint on receiving the final report. The lead inspector will ensure that the local area is informed that it is able to make a formal complaint, and that information about how to complain is available on GOV.UK.

Annex A: information request

The Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care have commissioned Ofsted to provide information and advice about children with SEND who are not in school in local areas in England. To provide this information and advice, inspectors will draw together information from across education, health and social care services, as well as from third-sector organisations and children and their families. We have set out the legal powers to request and view this information above. We will share information about how we handle personal data when we contact participants.

Annex A sets out the information inspectors will request for sharing information. Inspectors will provide details about accessing an online system, which local area leaders can use to share the information.

The information that inspectors will request includes:

• pseudonymised person-level data of children with SEND, who are of statutory school age and who are not in school, as defined in the section above. Inspectors will use this data to select the children whose experiences they will evaluate as part of case tracking. This data should include:
  • their age
  • their gender
  • their ethnicity
  • their known destination, for example elective home education, children missing education or flexi-schooled
  • the reason they are not in school
  • any special educational and/or health and social care needs they have
  • whether they have or have had an EHC plan, or are in the process of assessment
  • whether they are looked after
  • whether they are the subject of a child protection plan
  • whether they are the subject of a child in need plan
  • all education setting(s) they may be attending and have attended previously
  • whether these settings are state maintained, independent and registered, or independent and unregistered
  • whether these settings are in or out of area (including journey times in case of the latter)
  • the reasons for their attending the setting
  • whether the placements are/were full or part time
  • whether they are/were single or dual registrations
  • who commissioned the placement(s)
  • whether the placements are/were full or part time
  • whether they are/were single/dual registrations
• information about services for children with SEND who are not in school in the local area
• information about monitoring and oversight arrangements for children with SEND who are not in school
• information about the structure of the local health services, including who commissions them and who provides them (CQC will provide a template at notification), and any health services commissioned specifically for children with SEND who are not in school
• service specifications and/or standard operating practice for health services in relation to children not in school
• a list of all children with SEND who were not in school in the past 6 months and have returned to full-time education in a registered independent school (such as academy school) or a school maintained by a local authority, specifying the information set out in the list above
• a list of all children who are on the dynamic support register and/or have had a care, education and treatment review (CETR) in the last 6 months, and their current education provision and health needs, including whether they have an EHC plan

Further information

Inspectors may also request information from other agencies that are involved in providing support or commissioning services for children with SEND who are not in school, such as health and social care services, schools or multi-academy trusts.

Inspectors will gather personal information, including sensitive personal data, that is necessary to help them evaluate local arrangements for children with SEND who are not in school.

Inspectors may, at any time, ask for additional information not set out in Annex A and may agree to look at additional information that agencies provide. Any additional information must be: 

• necessary for an accurate understanding of children’s experiences and outcomes in relation to the scope of the visit
• not already be available through the request in Annex A

We do not necessarily expect local areas and other partners to have all the information set out in Annex A available. If the local area or any other partner does not hold the information listed in Annex A, they should not produce new documents solely to meet the request for information. Instead, partners should share all the information they have that is relevant to this request. Inspectors will want only the most recent information that relates to the scope of the visit. Inspectors will not review information if they believe it falls outside the scope of the visit.

If information that is relevant to more than one of the requests is shared, it does not need to be replicated in each section, but the lead inspector should be made aware of it.

Inspectors may not be able to review all the information provided by the local area. If this is the case, inspectors will select the information they judge to be most relevant to the purposes of the visit.

When local area partners share the lists, they should indicate the date(s) that the data in each list refers to, as far as possible.

If certain data is unavailable, the lead inspector may wish to discuss how the local area monitors those areas.

1. Paragraph 49 of the Ofsted school inspection handbook outlines the schools that fall within this definition. ↩

2. See ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance. ↩

3. Section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014 states that ‘a local authority in England may arrange for any special educational provision that it has decided is necessary for a child or young person for whom it is responsible to be made otherwise than in a school or post-16 institution or a place at which relevant early years education is provided.’ This is known as ‘education otherwise than at school’ (EOTAS). ↩