What replaced Ofsted grades in 2025?

Report cards. From 10 November 2025, every routine Ofsted school inspection in England ends with a report card instead of a single overall judgement: five-point grades (Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement) across six core areas — inclusion, curriculum and teaching, achievement, attendance and behaviour, personal development and well-being, and leadership and governance — plus early years and sixth form where the school has them, a separate Met/Not met safeguarding judgement, and a short written explanation for each grade.

Does my school still have its Outstanding or Good rating?

If its last inspection was before November 2025, yes — the old judgement stands until the school is next inspected, and because inspections run on multi-year cycles, old-style grades and new report cards will coexist for several years. School Atlas shows whichever your school’s latest inspection produced, with the full history underneath.

Is "Expected standard" a bad grade?

No. It means the school meets the standard Ofsted expects of every school in that area, and it is the most common grade — about half of all grades in the first nine months of report cards. Treat it as the benchmark, and read the accompanying narrative for the texture the label cannot carry.

What does the safeguarding "Met" judgement mean?

Safeguarding is judged separately from the graded areas, as a binary: Met or Not met. Not met is serious and rare — where it happens, the school is expected to act immediately and inspectors return quickly. A Met judgement is the expected state and not a distinguishing feature between schools.

Why do schools no longer get one overall grade?

The single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / Requires improvement / Inadequate) was abolished for state schools in September 2024, and the report-card system that followed in November 2025 was designed to show parents a fuller picture — a school can be strong in curriculum but weaker on attendance, and one word could not carry that. The trade-off is that parents now need to read six grades instead of one, which is exactly what this guide and our school profiles are for.

How should I compare a report-card school with an Outstanding school?

Carefully — the two systems measure differently, and Ofsted itself cautions against direct equivalence. A pre-2025 Outstanding is a point-in-time judgement, sometimes many years old; a report card is newer and more granular. Check the inspection date first: a 2019 Outstanding tells you less about today’s school than a 2026 report card does. On School Atlas, both appear with their dates and the full grade detail.

Do report cards apply in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

No — Ofsted inspects England only. Wales uses Estyn (no grades since 2024; narrative judgements), Scotland uses HMIE — His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, now independent of Education Scotland — and Northern Ireland uses the ETI. School Atlas shows each nation’s own inspection system in its own vocabulary.

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Ofsted Report Cards Explained

Since 10 November 2025, Ofsted inspections in England end with a report card — five-point grades across six areas instead of one overall word. Here is how to read one, what the grades actually mean, and how they sit alongside the old Outstanding-to-Inadequate ratings your school may still hold.

AI-drafted

Key facts

From 10 November 2025 there is no single overall Ofsted grade — schools get a report card of graded areas, each with a written explanation
Five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement
Expected standard is the most common grade (about half of all early grades) — it is the benchmark, not a warning
Safeguarding is judged separately as Met or Not met
Old-style grades (Outstanding, Good…) remain valid until a school’s next inspection — the two systems will coexist for years

The five grades

Every graded area on a report card uses the same five-point scale. The distribution figures below come from the first 2,460 report cards published between November 2025 and early August 2026, as held in our inspection database:

Exceptional

Practice in this area is exemplary — strong enough that Ofsted holds it up as a model for other schools. Genuinely rare: fewer than 2% of the report-card grades published in the first nine months went to Exceptional.

Strong standard

The school is securely beyond the expected standard in this area. Roughly a third of early report-card grades landed here — a strong result worth taking seriously.

Expected standard

The school meets the standard Ofsted expects of every school in this area. This is the most common grade — about half of all grades published in the first nine months. It is not a criticism; it is the benchmark.

Needs attention

Something specific in this area is not yet good enough, and the narrative beside the grade says exactly what. Read the words, not just the label — a single Needs attention in an otherwise strong card has a very different meaning from several.

Urgent improvement

A serious weakness requiring immediate action, and the school will usually be monitored closely afterwards. Rare — under 2% of early grades.

What gets graded

Six core areas are graded for every school, with early years and sixth-form provision graded additionally where the school has them:

Inclusion

How well the school serves disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND — identification, support, and whether these pupils achieve well. New as a stand-alone judgement, and the single most useful area for parents of children with additional needs.

Curriculum and teaching

What is taught, how well it is sequenced, and the quality of teaching pupils actually receive.

Achievement

What pupils learn and remember, and how well they achieve — in national tests and exams where they exist, and across the wider curriculum where they do not.

Attendance and behaviour

Whether pupils attend regularly and behave well — including how the school supports pupils whose attendance has broken down.

Personal development and well-being

The development of pupils beyond the academic: character, citizenship, health, and preparation for later life.

Leadership and governance

How well leaders and governors run and improve the school — including whether they engage honestly with inspection and manage staff workload.

Safeguarding: Met or Not met

Judged separately from the graded areas as a simple binary. Met is the expected state for the overwhelming majority of schools; Not met triggers immediate action and rapid re-inspection.

How to read a report card like an inspector

Read the narrative, not just the grades. Each grade carries a short written explanation — that text is where the real information lives, especially for Needs attention.
Expect a mixed profile. Most schools are stronger in some areas than others; a card that mixes Strong standard and Expected standard is a normal, healthy result — one word could never have told you that.
Weight the areas by your child. If your child has SEND, the Inclusion grade and its narrative matter more to you than the headline pattern. If attendance has been a struggle, read that area first.
Check the date before comparing. A school still carrying a 2019 Outstanding has not been re-inspected under the new system; a 2026 report card is newer evidence, even where its grades look more modest.
Triangulate. Inspection is one lens. Set the report card beside results, absence, demand and parent-view data before drawing conclusions — that is exactly what a school profile here puts on one page.

See your school's report card

Search any school to see its latest inspection — new-style report card or legacy grade — with the full inspection history underneath.

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Frequently asked questions

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Ofsted Report Cards Explained

AI-drafted

Key facts

From 10 November 2025 there is no single overall Ofsted grade — schools get a report card of graded areas, each with a written explanation
Five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement
Expected standard is the most common grade (about half of all early grades) — it is the benchmark, not a warning
Safeguarding is judged separately as Met or Not met
Old-style grades (Outstanding, Good…) remain valid until a school’s next inspection — the two systems will coexist for years

The five grades

Exceptional

Strong standard

The school is securely beyond the expected standard in this area. Roughly a third of early report-card grades landed here — a strong result worth taking seriously.

Expected standard

Needs attention

Urgent improvement

A serious weakness requiring immediate action, and the school will usually be monitored closely afterwards. Rare — under 2% of early grades.

What gets graded

Six core areas are graded for every school, with early years and sixth-form provision graded additionally where the school has them:

Inclusion

Curriculum and teaching

What is taught, how well it is sequenced, and the quality of teaching pupils actually receive.

Achievement

What pupils learn and remember, and how well they achieve — in national tests and exams where they exist, and across the wider curriculum where they do not.

Attendance and behaviour

Whether pupils attend regularly and behave well — including how the school supports pupils whose attendance has broken down.

Personal development and well-being

The development of pupils beyond the academic: character, citizenship, health, and preparation for later life.

Leadership and governance

How well leaders and governors run and improve the school — including whether they engage honestly with inspection and manage staff workload.

Safeguarding: Met or Not met

Judged separately from the graded areas as a simple binary. Met is the expected state for the overwhelming majority of schools; Not met triggers immediate action and rapid re-inspection.

How to read a report card like an inspector

Read the narrative, not just the grades. Each grade carries a short written explanation — that text is where the real information lives, especially for Needs attention.
Expect a mixed profile. Most schools are stronger in some areas than others; a card that mixes Strong standard and Expected standard is a normal, healthy result — one word could never have told you that.
Weight the areas by your child. If your child has SEND, the Inclusion grade and its narrative matter more to you than the headline pattern. If attendance has been a struggle, read that area first.
Check the date before comparing. A school still carrying a 2019 Outstanding has not been re-inspected under the new system; a 2026 report card is newer evidence, even where its grades look more modest.
Triangulate. Inspection is one lens. Set the report card beside results, absence, demand and parent-view data before drawing conclusions — that is exactly what a school profile here puts on one page.

See your school's report card

Search any school to see its latest inspection — new-style report card or legacy grade — with the full inspection history underneath.

Search results open with filters matching this guide

Frequently asked questions

Was this guide helpful?

Ofsted Report Cards Explained

The five grades

What gets graded

How to read a report card like an inspector

See your school's report card

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

Ofsted Report Cards Explained

The five grades

What gets graded

How to read a report card like an inspector

See your school's report card

Frequently asked questions

Related guides