Understanding a school inspection report

A school inspection report has information about the school that the inspectors gathered during the inspection.

There are different types of inspections and so what is in the report and how long it is will depend on the type of inspection the school has received.

We inspect schools regularly and a school will usually have one main inspection every few years. The report from such an inspection will tell the reader all about the school, so, for example, it could help a parent or carer decide if they want to send their child to the school.

The report will have information such as:

a description of the school
the inspection’s findings
overall judgement grades for how good a school is at particular aspects
- grade 1 (outstanding)
- grade 2 (good)
- grade 3 (satisfactory)
- grade 4 (inadequate).

What the inspection’s findings will tell you about the school will depend on whether the inspection is of a maintained or independent school.

School inspection findings include:

how good the school is and the things it needs to do to improve
how well pupils are doing
the well-being and personal development of pupils
what parents and carers think about the school
contact with parents, carers and others
the school’s proprietor, staff, building(s) and accommodation
handling of complaints
childcare and boarding
compliance with regulations.

If a school is satisfactory or is judged inadequate and requires a notice to improve or special measures

If a school is satisfactory or is judged inadequate and requires a notice to improve or special measures, the report will explain why. We will monitor up to 40% of schools judged to be satisfactory; we will also carry out monitoring inspections of schools which require a notice to improve or special measures. These inspections will also have reports, but they will be shorter and just be about how the school is progressing.

For further information about inspections, go to the Inspecting schools pages on the left.