This newsletter details everything you need to know about Ofsted and inspections for the year ahead, including some of the changes that we announced in June as part of our annual update process to the inspection toolkit. These changes have been effective from 1 September 2026. You’ll also find some reminders about where you can find a range of useful resources we have published.

How we inspect against new government guidance

Ofsted toolkits are grounded in the statutory and non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education. This means that each year, our updates will reflect how the relevant guidance has changed or will change over the next academic year.

However, we always recognise where guidance is new. We won’t hold schools to account for changes to DfE guidance that haven’t yet come into effect.

For example, schools receiving the Inclusive Mainstream Fund will not be expected to have published their inclusion strategy prior to 31 December 2026, as outlined in the published DfE guidance.

I hope that provides the reassurance I know some of you have asked for.

How do we inspect enrichment? What is similar schools data? These questions and more answered in our blog

Our Frequently Questions blog is continually updated to reflect topical questions we hear from you and other school leaders across England.  Most recently we have updated questions on how we evaluate enrichment on inspection, and about the purpose of the similar schools measure in the IDSR.  You can find other information about when you might get inspected and how we consider school policies on mobile phones,so it is worth bookmarking.   You can read the blog here    We regularly publish posts on our schools and further education blog about how we inspect schools, and our reflections on current issues in education.   You can also subscribe to receive our latest blog posts by email.