Ofsted and the SEF

Ofsted believes that schools are best placed to recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. This is why they have introducing a new inspection system which puts more onus on a school to demonstrate that it can diagnose where its strengths and weaknesses are and do something about improving and developing them.

The self-evaluation form (SEF) is at the heart of the new inspection arrangements.

Ofsted believes that schools are best placed to recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. This is why they have introduced a new inspection system which allows schools to demonstrate to inspectors that they can not only diagnose where their strengths and weaknesses are, but more crucially, do something about improving and developing them.

Self evaluation is at the heart of the new inspection arrangements. For school inspections the self evaluation form serves as the main document when planning the inspection, and is crucial in evaluating the quality of leadership and management and the school’s capacity to improve. In childcare inspections self evaluation forms serve as a basis for discussion with the inspector. Ofsted can now focus its inspections on the schools’ evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses which helps to make inspection sharper and more helpful while still providing evaluations against a national framework.