Ofsted Round-Up: What 2025 Has Taught Us About the Future of Ofsted in FE & Skills

Introduction

As 2025 draws to a close, the FE & Skills sector finds itself in an unusual moment - a year of significant change in inspection expectations, but very few visible examples yet of how those changes will ultimately present in published reports.

During 2025, Ofsted introduced a new FE & Skills Inspection Toolkit, reshaped the way inspections are conducted, elevated inclusion to a whole-provider evaluation area, and signalled a move toward report card style outcomes. Yet we are still waiting to see the first FE & Skills reports that fully reflect this new approach.

This blog reflects on what has actually changed this year, what the sector has underestimated, and what providers should be doing now as we move toward the next phase of inspection.

A Year of Fundamental Change

One of the defining features of 2025 has been how Ofsted’s expectations have shifted. Change has come through:

• revised inspection methodology
• a new toolkit replacing the handbook as the primary reference
• a stronger emphasis on professional dialogue over documentation
• a clear move away from judgements towards evaluation across multiple areas

For FE & Skills providers, this has meant that inspection is no longer primarily about what grade you receive, but about how well you can explain, evidence and improve your provision in practice.

The Toolkit Changed the Conversation - Not Just the Framework

The 2025 FE & Skills Inspection Toolkit has reshaped inspection conversations in three important ways:

1. Inclusion Became a Headline Act

Inclusion is no longer treated as a support function or a subset of personal development. It is now:

• a standalone, whole-provider evaluation area
• and a lens applied across curriculum, safeguarding, participation, achievement and leadership

Inspectors are no longer asking whether providers value inclusion, but how inclusion is operationalised, monitored and improved for different learner groups.

2. Impact Overtook Intent

Strong policies, strategies and SAR narratives are no longer sufficient. Inspectors will increasingly be testing:

• what has changed for learners
• how leaders know it has changed
• and whether improvement is sustained over time

This has exposed gaps where providers can describe intent clearly but struggle to demonstrate consistent impact.

3. Inspection Became “Business as Usual”

The toolkit is explicit that inspectors do not want bespoke inspection documents. Instead, they rely on:

• normal data, reports and dashboards
• everyday meetings and routines
• and conversations with staff who can explain their practice confidently

For many providers, this has required a cultural shift away from inspection ‘preparation periods’ towards year-round readiness.

What We’re Still Waiting to See: the New Report Cards

An unanswered question as the year ends is how these changes will appear in published reports. What we do know is that the report cards will have:

• no single headline judgement
• a five-point grading scale across several areas
• a sharper focus on inclusion
• been based on a secure fit, not best fit approach
• clearer visibility of strengths and weaknesses side by side
• a stronger link between evidence, evaluation and next steps

For FE & Skills providers, this will likely mean that:

• inspection outcomes feel more detailed and more transparent
• weaknesses are harder to obscure behind overall grades
• and improvement narratives become more visible to learners, employers and stakeholders

The absence of early FE examples has understandably created uncertainty, but the direction of travel does appear to be clear.

What the Sector Underestimated in 2025

Looking back, several themes repeatedly caught providers off guard this year:

• Inclusion data did not always match inclusion in practice
• Attendance treated as compliance rather than a potential safeguarding or behavioural risk
• Middle leaders were under-prepared for inspection level conversations
• Governance focused on data reporting rather than challenge and impact
• Quality assurance measured activity, not the difference it made

None of these reflect a lack of commitment. They reflect where the inspection lens increasingly focussed.

What Matters Most as We Move into the Next Phase

As we await the first report card style FE & Skills reports, providers should be focusing less on prediction and more on alignment. The strongest providers heading into 2026 are those that:

• treat inclusion as a core system
• ensure SARs, QIPs and governance reporting link to impact
• build data confidence at curriculum and middle leader level
• ensure inspection conversations reflect everyday practice
• use quality assurance to evidence improvement; consistently

Inspection readiness is no longer about knowing what to say. It is about being able to explain why things work, for whom, and how leaders know.

Final Thoughts

2025 will be remembered for laying the foundations of a fundamentally different inspection model for FE & Skills. The toolkit has already changed expectations. Report card style reporting will change visibility.

Providers that use this moment to strengthen inclusion, sharpen impact evidence, and align leadership practice to the new evaluation areas will be best placed - not just for inspection, but for sustained improvement.

As ever, AiVII will continue to track these shifts closely and share practical insight as the next phase of Ofsted inspection becomes clearer.