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Ofsted Inspection Preparation Pack (2026)
Ofsted Inspection Preparation Pack (2026)
🔒 Fully aligned to the 2025 Ofsted School Inspection Toolkit
Prepare for Ofsted inspection with confidence using this comprehensive preparation pack, designed specifically for school leaders navigating the latest EIF and the School Inspection Toolkit.
This complete resource brings together everything you need to understand how inspections work, prepare your team and demonstrate your school's strengths effectively. Written by former headteachers who understand what it's like to go through inspection, this pack combines a detailed 247-page guidance document with 67 fully editable templates that you can adapt for your school's specific context.
You'll get:
☑️ Complete guidance on the inspection process - understand how inspections work under the current EIF, from the phone call through to final feedback
☑️ 67 editable templates - ready-to-use documents, checklists and tools that'll help you organise your priorities, delegate tasks and ensure nothing is overlooked
☑️ Role-specific preparation materials - help your DSL, SENDCo, curriculum lead, governors and other key staff prepare for their part in inspection
☑️ Evaluation area breakdowns - detailed exploration of what inspectors look for across all nine evaluation areas
If you're waiting for the Ofsted phone call, worried you aren’t ‘ready’ or wondering what you should do prepare for an Ofsted inspection, this pack will help you to feel confident and well-prepared, no matter when your next inspection is.
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What's in this Ofsted Inspection Preparation Pack?
This comprehensive pack has been created by former headteachers who know what it's like to prepare for and experience Ofsted inspection. Rather than adding to your workload with unnecessary paperwork, it's designed to help you understand the inspection process, get organised and build confidence across your leadership team.
The pack is built around the Education Inspection Framework (EIF) and aligns fully with the School Inspection Toolkit that inspectors use when evaluating schools. It covers everything from understanding how inspections work through to preparing specific leaders to explain your provision to inspectors.
Comprehensive Ofsted Inspection Guidance Document
The main guide walks you through every aspect of Ofsted inspection preparation, broken into three key sections:
Understanding Ofsted Inspections
- EIF and School Inspection Toolkit explained - clear breakdown of how the framework operates, what the toolkit covers, types of inspection, how grading works and what triggers categories of concern
- Specific inspection contexts - guidance for schools with particular circumstances including federations, trusts, religious character, resourced provision and flexi-schooling
- Requesting deferrals and reasonable adjustments - understand when and how to request a deferral, the pausing policy for wellbeing concerns and how to request reasonable adjustments
- After the inspection - what happens once inspectors leave, including the draft report card process and publication timelines
Preparing Yourself and Your Staff
- Where to start in getting organised - essential documents that must be ready, how to approach self-evaluation, organising your single central record and creating a practical document organisation strategy
- The role of the nominee - clarifying this important role, who should take it on, what they'll do during inspection and how they support you throughout
- The Ofsted phone call - detailed guidance on both the notification call and planning call, including what information you'll need to provide and how to use these conversations strategically
- Understanding key inspection activities - comprehensive explanations of all the activities that inspectors conduct, including learning walks, case sampling, focused leadership meetings, safeguarding checks, governance meetings, documentation review and more.
- The two-day inspection timetable - detailed breakdown of what typically happens from the morning single central record check through to final feedback
- Role-specific responsibilities - focused guidance for key leaders who are likely to be involved in inspection, including the SENDCo, DSL, designated teacher, pupil premium lead, curriculum lead, assessment lead, pastoral and personal development lead, attendance lead, behaviour lead, school business manager and governors.
Understanding the Evaluation Areas
- Detailed guidance on all nine evaluation areas - comprehensive exploration of what inspectors evaluate in safeguarding, inclusion, curriculum and teaching, achievement, attendance and behaviour, personal development and wellbeing, early years, post-16 provision, and leadership and governance
- What inspectors look for - clear explanation of the expectations at each grade and how your existing work maps onto what inspectors evaluate
Editable Templates for Inspection Preparation
All templates are provided in fully editable formats (Word .docx) so you can adapt them for your school's specific context. These tools can help you organise information you already have and ensure you can demonstrate your practice clearly.
Getting Organised
- Pre-Inspection Action Checklist - strategic planning tool to help you prioritise preparation tasks and delegate responsibilities across your team
- Ofsted Folder and Document Checklist - comprehensive list of the documents inspectors will need to see, helping you organise and locate everything in advance
Self-Evaluation Documents
- Self-Evaluation Form Template - structured SEF template aligned to the School Inspection Toolkit evaluation areas
- Full Ofsted Grade Descriptor Grids - complete breakdown of grade descriptors for all evaluation areas, helping you understand expectations at each level
Nominee Support Documents
- Ofsted Nominee and Headteacher Checklist - prepare your nominee for their role with this detailed preparation guide
- Nominee Challenge Scenarios - roleplay scenarios to help your nominee understand and practise handling more challenging situations during inspection
Ofsted Phone Call Documents
- Example Ofsted Phone Call Questions - understand what inspectors typically ask during both calls so you can prepare answers in advance
- Notification List - template for recording key contact details so you can quickly notify governors, trust, staff and others once the call comes
- Ofsted Inspection Responsibilities List - delegate and track actions before, during and after the phone call so everyone knows what to do once the call comes
- Ofsted Phone Call Crib Sheet - have key facts about your school readily available during the call to save your headspace
Case Sampling Documents
Case sampling is a key part of how inspectors evaluate inclusion and safeguarding under the current School Inspection Toolkit. These documents help you understand the process and allow you to use case sampling yourself as a form of monitoring before inspection.
- Vulnerable Groups - Identification and Planning - identify and plan your approach to evaluating provision for vulnerable pupils
- Vulnerable Groups - Pupil Tracking Template - track outcomes and provision for identified vulnerable pupils
- Case Sampling Preparation Checklist - organise yourself to conduct your own case sampling as part of your ongoing monitoring and quality assurance
- Case Sampling Evidence Gathering Template - structured template for gathering evidence during case sampling
- Case Sampling Analysis and Action Plan - analyse your findings and plan improvements
- Case Sampling Message to Parents and Carers - template letter to send if a child is selected for case sampling during inspection, reducing parental anxiety
Example Ofsted Questions
These role-specific question banks help your leaders prepare for focused meetings and other interactions with inspectors by understanding what inspectors might ask and practising how to articulate impact clearly, therefore building confidence across your middle leaders and SLT:
- Example Ofsted Assessment Lead Questions
- Example Ofsted Attendance Lead Questions
- Example Ofsted Behaviour Lead Questions
- Example Ofsted Curriculum Lead Questions
- Example Ofsted Designated Teacher Questions
- Example Ofsted DSL Questions
- Example Ofsted Governor Questions
- Example Ofsted Pastoral and Personal Development Lead Questions
- Example Ofsted Pupil Premium Lead Questions
- Example Ofsted School Business Manager Questions
- Example Ofsted SENDCo Questions
Evaluation Area Resources
For each of the nine evaluation areas, you'll receive three essential documents:
- Grade Descriptor Grid - detailed breakdown of what inspectors look for at each grade level
- Inspection Readiness Tool - a self-evaluation tool that helps you to explore each statement in the toolkit and consider whether you’re achieving it now, what visitors would see, what documentation underpins your practice, which other stakeholders can provide evidence of your provision and what specific examples you have to demonstrate strong provision.
- Leader Action Checklist - focused preparation checklist to help the responsible leader understand requirements and get up to speed
These resources cover all nine evaluation areas:
- Safeguarding
- Inclusion
- Curriculum and Teaching
- Achievement
- Attendance and Behaviour
- Personal Development and Well-being
- Early Years
- Post-16 Provision
- Leadership and Governance
Supporting Records and Log
There is a specific list of documents and information that Ofsted require once you're notified of inspection. If needed, you can use these templates to keep track of the data Ofsted require:
- Alternative Provision Tracking Log
- Attendance Summary and Group Tracking Log
- Bullying, Harassment, Discriminatory and Prejudiced Behaviour Log
- LADO Referrals Log
- Off-Rolling Log
- Off-Site Direction and Managed Move Log
- Open Cases with Children's Services and Social Care Log
- Physical Intervention Log
- Safeguarding Referrals Log
- Sexual Harassment and Violence Log
- Staff List
- Suspension, Exclusion, Internal Isolation and Poor Behaviour Log
All templates are fully editable, so you can adapt them to reflect your school's specific context, systems and priorities.
Who should use this Ofsted Inspection Preparation Pack?
This pack is designed primarily for headteachers, principals and senior leadership teams who are preparing for Ofsted inspection under the Education Inspection Framework and School Inspection Toolkit. It's particularly valuable if you're preparing for inspection in 2026, navigating your first inspection under the current framework or supporting a leadership team that's new to the inspection process.
The comprehensive nature of this resource means it can be shared across your senior leadership team rather than sitting with one person alone. Deputy heads, assistant heads and other SLT members can take ownership of specific sections, making preparation more manageable and building collective confidence across your leadership group.
Trust executives and school improvement leads supporting multiple schools can use this pack as a standardised preparation resource across their trust, ensuring consistency while allowing each school to adapt templates to their specific context.
If you're a middle leader with specific inspection responsibilities - such as a SENDCo, designated safeguarding lead, pupil premium lead or curriculum coordinator - the role-specific sections and example question banks will help you prepare for your focused meeting with inspectors, even if you haven't experienced inspection in these roles before.
This pack is essential if you've recently been notified of inspection and need to get organised quickly, but it's equally valuable if you're preparing proactively during your inspection window. The materials can be worked through over time, integrated into your existing monitoring and self-evaluation cycle, and revisited as your preparation develops.
How can this pack help school leaders prepare for inspection with confidence?
Preparing for Ofsted inspection can feel overwhelming, especially when you're trying to understand what inspectors are looking for under the EIF while managing the day-to-day running of your school. This comprehensive pack helps you tackle the most common challenges leaders face when preparing for inspection, using the 2025 School Inspection Toolkit as the foundation for building readiness across your team.
"How do I prepare for the Ofsted phone call?"
The Ofsted notification call can feel intense - you're expected to provide detailed information about your school while processing the reality that inspectors will arrive the following day. Many headteachers worry about forgetting crucial information or not being able to answer inspectors' questions clearly under pressure.
This pack includes four dedicated phone call preparation documents that help you feel ready for both the notification call and the planning call. The Example Ofsted Phone Call Questions document walks you through what inspectors typically ask, so you can prepare answers in advance rather than thinking on your feet. The Ofsted Phone Call Crib Sheet gives you a one-page summary of key facts about your school - pupil numbers, vulnerable groups, recent staff changes, curriculum decisions - that you can have in front of you during the call. You'll also get the Notification List template to ensure you can quickly inform governors, trust leads and key staff once the call ends, and the Ofsted Inspection Responsibilities List to help you delegate preparation tasks immediately.
These documents turn what could be a stressful conversation into a strategic opportunity to shape how inspectors approach your school.
"What is case sampling and how do I prepare for it?"
Case sampling is one of the most significant changes in how Ofsted evaluates inclusion, safeguarding and other areas under the School Inspection Toolkit 2025. Inspectors select individual pupils who are vulnerable or have additional needs and conduct a thorough exploration of their educational experience, provision and outcomes. Many leaders feel uncertain about what case sampling involves and worry about whether their systems will demonstrate the impact they know they're having.
This pack includes six dedicated case sampling documents that demystify the process and help you prepare effectively. The Vulnerable Groups - Identification and Planning template helps you think strategically about which pupils might be selected and what evidence demonstrates their progress and wellbeing. The Case Sampling Evidence Gathering Template mirrors the approach inspectors use, so you can conduct your own case sampling as part of your self-evaluation and identify any gaps before inspection.
"How can I help my SENDCo, DSL and other leaders prepare for their part in inspection?"
One of the biggest sources of anxiety for heads is knowing that inspectors will have focused meetings and discussions with key staff members - your SENDCo, designated safeguarding lead, pupil premium lead, curriculum coordinator and others. These leaders need to be able to articulate the impact of their work clearly and confidently, but many may have not experienced an Ofsted focused meeting before.
This pack includes eleven sets of Example Ofsted Questions tailored to specific leadership roles, covering everything from safeguarding culture to curriculum sequencing to pupil premium strategy. These question banks help your leaders practise articulating impact, anticipate what inspectors might explore and build confidence in their ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of their work.
The role-specific guidance sections provide detailed preparation support for each key role, explaining what inspectors typically focus on, what evidence demonstrates strong practice and how to talk about both successes and areas for development authentically. This means your SENDCo isn't just preparing alone - they have structured guidance that helps them understand exactly what inspectors are evaluating and how to demonstrate your school's strengths in SEND provision. The same applies for all other roles too.
"What documents do I need to have ready for Ofsted?"
Inspectors will review a wide range of documents during inspection, from your single central record through to safeguarding logs, attendance data and policy documents. Many leaders worry about whether they have everything organised and accessible, or whether there are documents they've overlooked entirely.
The Ofsted Document Checklist provides a comprehensive list of everything inspectors might ask to see, organised by evaluation area. This isn't about creating new documents for inspection - it's about knowing where your existing documents are located, ensuring they're up to date and making them easily accessible. The checklist helps you audit what you have, identify any gaps and create a logical filing system so that when inspectors request a document, you can locate it quickly without stress.
"How do I understand what inspectors are looking for across all the evaluation areas?"
The School Inspection Toolkit covers nine evaluation areas - safeguarding, inclusion, curriculum and teaching, achievement, attendance and behaviour, personal development and wellbeing, early years, post-16 provision, and leadership and governance. Each area has its own grade descriptors and expectations, and it can feel overwhelming to truly understand what the expected standard or strong standard looks like in practice for each area.
This pack includes detailed guidance on all nine evaluation areas, breaking down exactly what inspectors evaluate, what they're looking for and how your existing work already addresses these areas. The Inspection Readiness Tools help you conduct thorough self-evaluation against the expected standards, identifying where you have strong evidence and where there might be gaps in provision or outcomes.
The Grade Descriptor Grids provide clear explanations of what each grade level looks like across all areas, helping you understand not just what's expected but what would demonstrate particularly strong practice. This means you can have honest conversations with your team about where your school genuinely sits, rather than guessing or hoping.
"How can I prepare for inspection without creating mountains of extra work?"
One of the biggest concerns leaders have is that preparing for inspection will add unsustainable workload to already stretched teams. This pack is specifically designed to help you work smarter, not harder.
Rather than suggesting you create new evidence or generate additional paperwork, it helps you organise and present the work you're already doing. The Pre-Inspection Action Checklist helps you prioritise what actually matters, delegate preparation tasks across your leadership team and focus on the activities that will genuinely help inspectors understand your school's effectiveness.
The comprehensive guidance walks you through exactly what happens during each inspection activity - learning walks, work scrutiny, pupil discussions, case sampling, focused leadership meetings and so on - so you can align these with your existing monitoring and quality assurance processes. Many schools find they're already doing the work inspectors value; they just need to be able to articulate it clearly and show the evidence systematically.
Because the pack can be shared across your senior leadership team, preparation doesn't fall entirely on the headteacher's shoulders. Your curriculum lead can work through the curriculum and teaching section, your DSL can prepare using the safeguarding materials, your SENDCo can use the inclusion resources, making preparation collaborative and manageable.
"What happens during the two days of inspection?"
Not knowing what to expect during the inspection itself creates significant anxiety. Leaders worry about the inspection timetable, when they'll be needed, how much time they'll have with inspectors and what different types of inspection activities involve.
This pack includes a detailed breakdown of the two-day inspection timetable, walking you through what typically happens from the moment inspectors arrive through to the final feedback meeting. You'll understand when the single central record check happens, how learning walks are conducted, when reflection meetings typically take place, how focused leadership meetings are scheduled and when you'll receive verbal feedback.
Understanding the structure of inspection days helps you plan strategically - you know when key leaders need to be available, when you might have quieter periods to gather additional evidence if needed and what the rhythm of the two days typically looks like. This reduces uncertainty and helps you feel more in control.
"How do I choose and prepare an Ofsted nominee?"
Under the 2025 EIF, schools can elect to have a nominee who supports the inspection process by liaising with inspectors and helping coordinate activities. Many leaders are unclear about what this role involves, who should take it on and how it differs from the headteacher's responsibilities during inspection.
The pack includes dedicated nominee preparation materials, including the Ofsted Nominee and Headteacher Checklist that clarifies the nominee's responsibilities and helps them prepare effectively. The Nominee Challenge Scenarios provide roleplay situations that help your nominee practise handling more difficult moments during inspection - what to do if inspectors request something unreasonable, how to manage timing pressures or how to support a staff member who's feeling anxious.
Having a well-prepared nominee means you have someone who can handle logistical coordination, giving you more time to focus on strategic conversations with inspectors and supporting your staff.
"What if inspectors ask about an area where we know we have weaknesses?"
One of the most common worries is knowing that your school has areas that need development and wondering about how inspectors will respond. Leaders often feel caught between wanting to be honest and fearing that acknowledging weaknesses will harm their outcome.
The guidance throughout this pack emphasises the importance of honest self-evaluation and being able to articulate both strengths and areas for development authentically. Inspectors expect schools to know where they need to improve because this demonstrates good leadership. What matters is whether you've identified these areas yourself, whether you have credible plans to address them and whether you can demonstrate that improvement work is already underway and having impact.
The Self-Evaluation Form Template and Inspection Readiness Tools help you conduct thorough, honest self-evaluation before inspection so you're not caught off guard. The example question documents help leaders practise talking about areas for development in a way that demonstrates reflective, strategic thinking rather than defensiveness or lack of awareness.
This preparation builds confidence because you know exactly what you'll say if inspectors probe a particular area - you've already thought through your response, identified your evidence and planned how to articulate your improvement journey.
"How do I help my team feel confident, especially if we've had challenging inspection experiences in the past?"
Inspection anxiety can spread through a staff team quickly, affecting morale and creating unnecessary stress. While some nervousness is natural, leaders want their teams to approach inspection with professional confidence rather than fear.
This pack helps you build team confidence by demystifying what inspection involves and giving specific leaders the tools to prepare effectively. When your DSL has worked through the example Ofsted DSL questions and feels ready to articulate safeguarding culture clearly, they feel confident rather than anxious. When your curriculum lead understands exactly what inspectors evaluate in curriculum and teaching and can see how your curriculum meets those expectations, they approach their interactions with inspectors as an opportunity to showcase excellent work rather than an interrogation to survive.
The detailed explanations of inspection activities - what learning walks involve, how work scrutiny happens, what pupil discussions focus on - help staff understand that inspectors are looking at normal school life, not expecting performative lessons or artificial displays. This realistic understanding reduces anxiety and helps everyone focus on simply doing their jobs well.
"How does this pack align with the School Inspection Toolkit that inspectors actually use?"
Everything in this pack is built around the School Inspection Toolkit and the Education Inspection Framework. The evaluation area guidance directly references toolkit expectations, the grade descriptor grids mirror the standards inspectors use and the inspection readiness tools are structured around toolkit criteria.
This means you're not preparing based on someone's interpretation of what might matter - you're preparing based on exactly what inspectors are required to evaluate - the school inspection toolkit and the accompanying online guidance for inspectors and schools. The Honeyguide guidance document explains toolkit terminology, clarifies what different terms mean in practice and helps you translate toolkit language into your school's context.
For leaders preparing for inspection in 2026, this alignment is crucial. You need to know you're focusing on what genuinely matters under the current framework, not wasting time on outdated priorities or misconceptions about what inspectors value.
This comprehensive preparation pack gives you everything you need to approach inspection with clarity, confidence and a practical plan. It won't eliminate all inspection pressure - that's inevitable - but it will help you feel organised, prepared and ready to demonstrate the excellent work already happening in your school.
Want to build on your inspection preparation work?
Complete School Leadership Audit Pack - Many school leaders choose to use this comprehensive audit pack to conduct deep, ongoing self-evaluation across all aspects of their provision. Going beyond the School Inspection Toolkit statements, this pack helps you evaluate eleven key areas including all nine Ofsted evaluation areas plus mental health and welfare, equality and diversity, and health and safety. With six tools within each audit area (full editable audit document, action plan template, document checklist, question bank, one-page summary and grade descriptor grid), this is your strategic improvement planning resource for the year ahead, helping you focus on sustained school improvement, which in turn leads to Ofsted inspection preparedness.
If you don't need all elements of this Ofsted Preparation Pack, the following resources can help you focus on specific areas of the inspection process. Please note that the contents of the resources below are the same as those available in this full Ofsted Preparation Pack, which offers best value for money for schools.
Pre-Inspection Action Checklist - If you've already got strong systems in place and just need a strategic planning tool to organise your final preparation, this standalone checklist helps you prioritise tasks, delegate responsibilities and ensure nothing is overlooked in the lead-up to inspection.
Case Sampling Support Pack - For leaders who want to focus specifically on understanding and preparing for case sampling, this dedicated pack provides detailed guidance on the process, multiple template options and strategies for conducting your own case sampling as part of ongoing self-evaluation.
The Role of The Nominee Support Pack - If you're preparing someone to take on the nominee role for the first time or want more extensive nominee training materials, this focused pack provides comprehensive guidance, challenge scenarios and practical tools to help your nominee support inspection effectively.
Single Central Record (SCR) Compliance Bundle - Ensure your single central record meets all compliance requirements with this dedicated resource covering audit tools, common errors to avoid and templates for maintaining robust recruitment and safer hiring records.
Ofsted Phone Call Preparation Pack - If the notification call and planning call are your primary concern, this focused pack provides extensive preparation materials, example questions and crib sheets to help you handle both conversations with confidence and use them strategically.
Ofsted Folder and Document Checklist - For schools that need a quick-reference document organisation tool, this checklist ensures you know exactly what documents inspectors will want to see and where to locate them quickly during inspection, as well as other helpful documents that can support you to prepare.
Self-Evaluation Form (SEF) Template - If you're looking to strengthen your self-evaluation process or need a robust SEF template aligned to the School Inspection Toolkit evaluation areas, this resource provides structured guidance for honest, evidence-based self-assessment.
Can I preview this pack?
Yes! You can view a preview of the entire pack plus the associated templates here: Ofsted Inspection Preparation Pack Preview