Who are Ofsted?

Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. They inspect services providing education and skills for learners of all ages. 

Ofsted’s role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training and care services in England do so to a high standard for children and students.

Ofsted are responsible for:

Inspecting:

• maintained schools and academies, some independent schools, and many other educational institutions and programmes outside of higher education
• childcare, adoption and fostering agencies and initial teacher training

Regulating:

• a range of early years and children’s social care services, making sure they’re suitable for children and potentially vulnerable young people

Reporting:

• publishing reports of our findings so they can be used to improve the overall quality of education and training
• informing policymakers about the effectiveness of these services