Guidance: Pausing Inspections and Formal Complaints

Earlier this month, Ofsted published an update to its guidance on making a complaint about an inspection. If after raising a formal complaint a provider remains dissatisfied with Ofsted’s response, the provider will now be able to directly escalate it to the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted (ICASO). This service, provided by an external organisation, will review Ofsted’s handling of the complaint.  In addition, Ofsted will periodically submit a sample of closed complaints to a panel for review.  The policy on pausing an inspection in exceptional circumstances has also been updated and now applies to all types of providers.