Local authorities not to be notified of provisional inadequate judgements

In updated guidance, Ofsted  has said it will no longer notify local authorities of provisional inadequate judgements of schools and academies, instead waiting for the grade to be confirmed.

The guidance says: "Ofsted provides early notification to the DfE of provisional inadequate judgements (pending moderation) of the inspections of maintained schools and academies.

"Historically, the local authority has also been copied into this notification, but this will no longer apply. The local authority will instead continue to receive notification of the inadequate outcome only when the final moderated judgement has been made."

It does however say there may be some cases where the local authority should be notified of safeguarding concerns promptly after an inspection because the local authority has overarching responsibility for safeguarding. "In these cases, the region should follow the relevant internal guidance on handling safeguarding concerns about children and vulnerable adults," the guidance says.