Ofsted Inspection Changes Set to Be Introduced in September 2025

Ofsted Inspection Changes Set to Be Introduced in September 2025

Early years settings will no longer receive a single word Ofsted judgement as one of the major reforms to the inspection and regulation processes. However, contrasting with the changes for schools, the move from a single judgement to a report card will not happen immediately for the early years sector. All registered early years settings, including childminder agencies, will continue to receive a single headline grade until the changes are introduced.

The headline change of removing the overall effectiveness grade and replacing it with a new report card was just one of the changes Ofsted laid-out with others including:

• Introduce a new early years inspection framework which is 'more flexible to apply to different types of settings'.
• Introduce the Ofsted Academy to improve training for inspectors. 
• Have a single point of contact for early years within Ofsted. 
• Streamline its registration process to make sure options and processes are clear to all applicants.

The inspectorate will consult on what the report card looks like later this academic year, with the sector urging Ofsted to work collaboratively with the sector when making these changes. Inspectorate is considering whether it can follow the same process it will be introducing with schools – notifying settings of an inspection on a Monday, carrying out inspections on a Tuesday and Wednesday and writing reports on a Thursday, before publication on a Friday, and will consult on any plans in December. 

The changes are being introduced in response to feedback from Ofsted’s Big Listen where 51% of 16,333 respondents answered questions about early years, including over 700 responses from those employed in a registered childcare setting. You can read the Ofsted response in full here.