Ofsted report cards explained: what's graded, and how to read yours
Edroom · Explainer · Evidence unless marked "Our take"
Ofsted's report cards replaced the old one-word judgements. If you're preparing for inspection this year, here's what the card shows and how it's built.
No overall grade any more
There's no "good", "outstanding" or "requires improvement" now. Each evaluation area gets its own colour-coded grade, and a report card can show a mix of grades across areas. Ofsted
Ofsted says the new grades "can't be compared to the old ones". Ofsted
The new approach started on 10 November 2025 for schools, early years, and FE and skills. Initial teacher education (ITE) and non-association independent schools started in January 2026. Ofsted
The five-point scale
Exceptional · Strong standard · Expected standard · Needs attention · Urgent improvement. Ofsted
- Expected standard means the school is doing what it should. Ofsted calls this "a high standard".
- Needs attention is "not a 'fail'".
- Exceptional is reserved for practice "among the very best nationally".
What gets graded
The final design has six graded evaluation areas for schools: inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; attendance and behaviour; personal development and well-being; and leadership and governance. Early years and post-16 are graded separately where they apply. Ofsted consultation outcome
The current school inspection toolkit (v2.0, updated June 2026) is "For use on inspections from 7 September 2026". Its contents list these evaluation areas: safeguarding, inclusion, curriculum and teaching, achievement, attendance and behaviour, personal development and wellbeing, early years, post-16 provision, and leadership and governance. Ofsted toolkit
Each area comes with a written description as well as its grade. Contextual DfE data, recorded at the time of inspection, appears beside the card. Ofsted
Safeguarding: met or not met
Safeguarding isn't on the five-point scale. It's either met or not met. Ofsted
The inspectors' operating guide sets the test: "Safeguarding will be graded as 'met' if all the individual safeguarding standards are met and none of the 'not met' standards apply." Ofsted operating guide
What changed in September 2026
The first annual update to the toolkits and operating guides came into force in September 2026. Ofsted will publish guidance on where the contextual data beside each card comes from. It is also removing national data comparisons for special schools. In future, Ofsted says it will "aim to update" these materials "on an annual basis". Ofsted blog, 12 Jun 2026
How it's landing
An independent interim evaluation covered "inspections from January 2026 onwards that were published before the end of May 2026". It drew 699 responses from all provider types (early years, schools, FE and skills, and ITE), not just schools. IFF Research for Ofsted
- Respectful: 88% said their inspection was respectful. IFF Research for Ofsted
- Collaborative: 76% agreed inspectors "worked collaboratively with them to understand the evidence the inspection team were evaluating". Interim findings (PDF)
- Context: 74% agreed the inspection team "sought to understand and take account of their provision's unique context". 72% agreed the inspection was "tailored to, and took account of, the context of their provision". Interim findings (PDF)
- Pupils' experience: 81% agreed with the way the report card "described what it is like to be a pupil, learner or child at the provision". Interim findings (PDF)
- Overall accuracy: 74% said their report card "gave an accurate account of their provision", falling to 69% for schools. Interim findings (PDF)
Workload and wellbeing remain concerns. The full report is due in 2027. IFF Research for Ofsted
These figures are self-reported by providers, and they are not a comparison with the old system.
What to do now
- Use the toolkit as your checklist. Read the toolkit area by area, because that's what inspectors work from.
- Check your safeguarding against the standards. The operating guide sets out the standards, and they must all be met.
- Prepare to explain each area. Your report card will show a grade for every area, so have a line ready for each one.
Opinion
Our take: Read your report card area by area, not as one verdict. Every school gets six graded areas, plus early years and post-16 where they apply (so six, seven or eight grades), plus safeguarding met or not met. Governors and parents will look at the colours first, so have a plain sentence ready for any area that isn't green. Don't benchmark against old "good" or "outstanding" judgements. Ofsted itself says they don't compare.