Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will instruct Ofsted to prioritise their role in supporting and advising schools in responding to the covid-19 outbreak above returning to their inspection regime while the national covid-19 lockdown remains in place.

The intention is that Ofsted’s routine graded inspections will remain suspended for the spring term, and that during this period Ofsted will carry out monitoring inspections of schools most in need. These will include inadequate schools and some schools that require improvement. These non-graded inspections will have a strong focus on remote education, and an emphasis on being supportive, with inspectors helping schools to prioritise the right things and pointing them to sources of support.

Ofsted will also continue to have the power to inspect schools where it has significant concerns, including where those concerns relate to remote education or safeguarding.