PRESS RELEASE : Schools continue to improve since pandemic [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 17 January 2023.

Ofsted has today published data on school inspections carried out up to the end of December 2022.

It shows that around 89% of all 22,000 schools were good or outstanding at their most recent inspection. This is an increase from 86% in August 2019 and 88% in August 2022.

Initial signs for the 2022/23 academic year are that inspection outcomes continue to paint a positive picture, and in some cases are even more positive than last year.

The data also shows that schools previously judged requires improvement (RI) have done particularly well last term, as 78% of those inspected improved to good, compared with 70% in 2021/22.

The vast majority of formerly outstanding schools visited this year had been exempt from routine inspection between 2012 and 2020. Since the government lifted the exemption, most of these schools have lost the top grade on reinspection. However, a slightly higher proportion of the previously exempt schools have remained outstanding this year compared with 2021/22 (21% v 17%), and a lower proportion were found to require improvement or to be inadequate (13% v 21%).

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said:

Every child deserves to attend a high-quality school and parents should be reassured that, despite some gradual rebalancing between good and outstanding, the overall proportion of schools with one of the two top grades continues to rise.

Overall, the picture since the pandemic is an increasingly positive one. I was particularly pleased to see so many schools that required improvement move to good last term. I’d like to thank everyone who is involved in helping these schools to improve.