How to read an Ofsted Report

Ofsted provide reports and league tables for all Nursery, Primary and Senior schools. However Ofsted ‘s school reports are often over 60 pages each so for those who are looking at comparing three schools in their local area it can be a daunting and time-consuming process. Here are some basic guidelines on how to get a useful overview of each one.

Always read at least the Part A summary (about 60 pages). If you then want to dig some key facts out quickly:

- Go straight to the section headed “How Good the School Is”. Read the first sentence, If it says “This is a good/very good/excellent school”, that means a big tick. Anything else, even kindly worded phrases such as “This is a friendly school”, does not.

- Skip to the paragraph headed “Standards”. This contain a table in which the last column compares the school’s test results with other schools in similar circumstances. The School is given a grade ranging from A* to E. If it gets A* or A, its pupils are doing much better than they would elsewhere.

- Under the section headed “Data” find the table headed “Quality of Teaching”. It contains the inspectors’ ratings for all the lessons they saw.

Ofsted’ website www.ofsted.gov.uk Ofsted reports can be obtained direct for the school or found on www.dfes.gov.uk/parents For the Independent Schools Inspectorate visit www.isinspect.org.uk