The updated Education Inspection Framework (EIF) sets out how Ofsted will inspect early years settings, schools, further education and skills providers in England from 10th November 2025. It establishes consistent principles, evaluation areas and expectations across all these settings.
Some key features:
- The framework applies to a wide range of settings: from early years provision and maintained schools/academies to independent schools, FE colleges, apprenticeship providers and more.
- Inspectors will use a 5-point evaluation scale (except for safeguarding) for each evaluation area: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, and Urgent improvement.
- However, there will no longer be a single “overall effectiveness” grade for providers.
- Safeguarding will be judged separately as either “met” or “not met.”
- The framework outlines specific evaluation areas (depending on setting) such as inclusion, curriculum & teaching, achievement, attendance & behaviour, personal development, leadership & governance, among others.
- Inspectors continue to consider compliance with legal duties (for example under the Equality Act 2010 or Human Rights Act 1998), and to emphasise evidence, professional standards, and transparency.
What’s changed
The most significant shift is that providers will no longer receive an overall effectiveness grade, meaning that strengths and weaknesses in individual evaluation areas take greater prominence in inspection reports. Safeguarding stands alone as a binary judgment (met/not met) rather than graded. Also, the stronger distinction of Exceptional and Strong standard aims to recognise outstanding practice more clearly than before. The updated framework encourages more nuanced, area-by-area feedback, rather than a summary “grade” being the headline.