Ofsted ratings and report-card grades explained
Schools no longer receive one overall Ofsted rating. Current report cards grade separate areas of a school, while thousands of older one-word judgements remain visible as historic evidence.
The current Ofsted grades
For report-card inspections, most aspects use the five-point scale set out in Ofsted's official guide to report cards and grades:
- Exceptional
- Strong standard
- Expected standard
- Needs attention
- Urgent improvement
Safeguarding is reported separately as Met or Not met. The other aspect headings include inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; attendance and behaviour; personal development and wellbeing; leadership and governance; and, where relevant, early years and post-16 provision.
Ofsted does not combine those judgements into an overall rating. School Facts UK does not average them or invent a replacement score.
Why older schools still show Outstanding or Good
Until summer 2024, a graded inspection ended with one of four overall judgements: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate. Ofsted withdrew the single overall grade in September 2024. There was then a transitional no-overall-grade period before report cards began in November 2025.
- 12,992 schools still carry a historic one-word grade. Every one was awarded in July 2024 or earlier and remains visible until a later inspection supersedes it.
- 7,799 schools have a later inspection with no overall grade. Where a report card exists, this site shows its separate aspect grades. Earlier transitional inspections link to the full report.
- 3,099 have no published Ofsted outcome. This includes recently opened schools and many independent schools inspected by ISI or another approved body.
How to compare old and new inspections
Do not place a historic overall grade and a current aspect judgement in one league table: they answer different questions under different frameworks. A recent report card may be more useful evidence than an old Outstanding badge, but it still does not prove how a school will suit one child. Read the date, the separate judgements and the report itself.
Each school page links to Ofsted's published report, which remains the authority on inspectors' findings.