07/02/2026
Up until recently, the changes in Ofsted’s inspection framework were aimed at only one of the five types of inspections that they carry out in independent schools.
On the 19th of January, the "Operating guide for additional inspections of non-association independent schools..." replaced the "Handbook for additional inspections of independent schools."
As usual, I carefully started reading through the new guidance to identify what had changed. At that point, the summary of changes had not yet been published.
I was just about to start compiling a table of changes from my annotated printed copy when Ofsted published the summary of changes. Phew! I thought. All I need to do now is signpost school leaders to the summary.
Then I looked at it. It wasn’t the usual paragraph-by-paragraph list of changes we’ve seen in the past. It was four bullet points. I read the bullet points, looked back at my notes and thought… really? That’s it?
So, I am going to go ahead and compile my table of changes anyway. As always, I encourage you to read the guidance for yourselves here - https://tinyurl.com/463579yu,
and the summary of changes - https://tinyurl.com/yh35k2hj
For now, I'll highlight one of the changes, important to note if you are expecting a pre-registration inspection.
Before this update, if during a pre-registration inspection the inspector judged that, the number of pupils you proposed is higher than what they judge can be accommodated in your premises - as long as the rest of the standards were judged as likely to be met, the school would receive an overall “standards likely to be met” judgement, with a recommended reduced number of pupils.
This has changed. If the same situation arises, the overall outcome will now be “unlikely to meet the standards” even if the rest of the standards are judged as likely to be met.
Given that this is a judgement about likelihood to meet a standard, isn’t it essentially a “best informed guess”?
As the proprietor proposing the school, you think carefully about the ages and needs of your pupils, look at the space available, consider published area guidelines for different types of provision, and take into account the number of staff likely to be in the room (where 1 to 1 or 2 to 1 provision is required) - you then make your best-informed guess.
If the inspector happens to arrive at a different number - even if all the other standards are judged as likely to be met - the overall outcome will now be “unlikely to be met”
What next? Go back to the drawing board? Well, not really.
You submit the same application again with one change - pupil numbers.
You go through the whole process again.
And at the end, you pay another £2,500.
I applaud inspectors for their previous practice. It was reasonable and very much in the spirit of supporting proprietors and leaders of proposed schools.
This new guidance - and this change specifically, what is it in aid of?
