School Self-Evaluation Form (SEF) Template

This school self-evaluation form (SEF) template is ideal for school leaders who are seeking a little extra support to take the pressure off all the things you need to remember when writing your SEF. 

The SEF template is carefully structured and is aligned to the Ofsted School Inspection Handbook so you can evaluate your setting's current strengths and areas for development based on a robust set of criteria, which include:

• Quality of Education
• Behaviour and Attitudes
• Personal Development
• Leadership and Management
• Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (if applicable to your setting)
• Sixth-Form Provision (if applicable to your setting)

Each of the above sections is broken down (with Quality of Education further split into Curriculum Intent, Impact and Implementation) to give you ideas on the areas you can evaluate. For example, for Personal Development, the SEF template guides you to comment on how your school prepares pupils for life in modern Britain, how your curriculum prepares pupils to be respectful and active citizens and how you curriculum helps pupils to develop interests and talents. Alongside these criteria are ideas for where you might find sources of evidence, such as pupil voice surveys, outcomes of pupil leadership opportunities and evidence from audits, such as an equality, diversity and inclusion audit.

Also included are the Ofsted Grade Descriptor Grids, which are fully aligned to the latest 2024 Ofsted School Inspection Handbook and which you can use to support your decision-making when self-evaluating your strengths and weaknesses.

This SEF template is ideal for new headteachers or those wishing to refine their SEF writing process. For those seeking deeper guidance on how to write a SEF, our School Evaluation and Improvement Pack is also available - it contains this editable SEF template too, plus templates for writing a school improvement plan, full PDF guidance and further supportive resources.