Ofsted's plans: 2021
Guidance and details of our plans as part of a phased return to full inspection.
Early years and childcare
We resumed on-site inspections of registered early years providers under the education inspection framework on 4 May.
Children's social care
Ofsted returned to carrying out routine inspections for all settings inspected under the SCCIF (social care common inspection framework) on Monday 12 April 2021.
Local authority children's services
In May, we restarted routine monitoring visits for local authorities (LAs) rated as inadequate.
Since then we have restarted:
- regular focused visits to local authorities we have concerns about, and/or those we have not visited in some time
- standard inspections, prioritising inadequate LAs that are likely to move out of that grade
We resumed short inspections to LAs previously judged good or outstanding in the autumn.
Area SEND
From April 2021, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) started revisiting areas where we had significant concerns about SEND provision when we last inspected them.
From June, we began carrying out inspections of local areas that have not yet been inspected under the current SEND framework. The focus of inspections remains the same: how effectively local areas identify and meet the needs of children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, inspectors will take into account the impact of the pandemic on the local SEND system. We will discuss with local area leaders how to carry these out safely, in line with the latest government guidance, and may carry out some activities remotely. See the updated Area SEND inspection guidance for more information.
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News and press releases
Other guidance and information
Updates to this page
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Updated the 'Non-association independent schools' section to clarify that the inspection cycle will be extended by 4 terms.
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First published.