Do schools in England still get an overall Ofsted grade?

No. Since 10 November 2025 an Ofsted inspection produces a report card that grades several areas of school life separately, rather than one overall word such as Good or Outstanding. Older single grades still appear on a school's page, each shown with its date and the system it was made under.

What do the report card grades mean?

Each area is judged on a five-point scale: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention and Urgent improvement. Expected standard means the school is doing what it should rather than that it is mediocre, and a mixed card with different grades across areas is normal.

How is safeguarding reported?

Safeguarding is not graded on the five-point scale. It is reported as either met or not met. Where it is not met, Ofsted expects swift action and usually returns quickly to check on progress.

My child's school was rated Good a few years ago. Does that still count?

It stands as the last published judgement until the school is inspected again, but read it with its date in mind. A grade from 2019 describes the school as it was then, and we never translate an old grade into a report card grade, because the two measure different things.

How Ofsted report cards work

In November 2025 Ofsted changed the way it reports on schools in England. Inspections no longer end with a single overall grade. Instead, each school gets a report card: a set of separate judgements across the different parts of school life, each graded on a five-point scale, with safeguarding reported separately. This guide explains what the report card shows, what the grades mean, and how to make sense of older inspection results alongside the new ones.

Why the overall grade went

For decades a school was summed up in one word: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate. That single label was easy to compare but hid a lot. A school could be strong in the classroom and weak on attendance, or the reverse, and the one-word grade could not tell you which. Ofsted stopped giving new overall grades in September 2024 and introduced full report cards for inspections from 10 November 2025.

What a report card shows

Inspectors now judge a school across six core areas:

Inclusion: how well the school serves disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and disabilities
Curriculum and teaching: what is taught and how well
Achievement: how much pupils learn and the results they reach
Attendance and behaviour: whether pupils turn up, and how the school manages conduct
Personal development and wellbeing: the wider development and welfare of pupils
Leadership and governance: how well the school is run

Schools with a nursery or a sixth form get extra judgements covering early years or post-16 provision, so a report card can have more than six graded areas.

The five grades

Each area is graded on the same five-point scale:

Exceptional: the strongest practice, well beyond the expected standard
Strong standard: consistently above the expected standard
Expected standard: the school meets the standard every school should reach
Needs attention: below the expected standard in ways the school must address
Urgent improvement: serious weaknesses needing rapid action

Expected standard is not a euphemism for mediocre. It means the school is doing what it should. Most schools will sit at Expected standard or Strong standard in most areas, and a mixed card is normal: a school can be Strong standard for teaching and Needs attention for attendance at the same time. That mix is the point of the reform.

Safeguarding is separate

Safeguarding, meaning how well the school protects children from harm, is not graded on the five-point scale. It is reported as met or not met. Where safeguarding is not met, Ofsted expects swift action and typically returns quickly to check on progress.

Reading older inspection results

Most schools in England have not yet had a report card inspection, so the most recent judgement you see for a school often comes from the old system. There are three kinds of older result you will come across:

A single overall grade (Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate) from a full inspection before September 2024.
Graded judgements without an overall grade, from inspections between September 2024 and autumn 2025, after the overall grade was scrapped but before report cards began.
An ungraded inspection outcome, a shorter visit that confirmed the school's previous grade rather than issuing a new one, often phrased as the school remains Good.

On OfferDay every judgement is shown with its inspection date and labelled with the system it was made under. We never translate an old grade into a report card grade or the other way round, because the two systems measure different things on different scales. A school judged Good in 2019 has not been assessed against the report card standards at all, and a school with a 2026 report card has no overall grade by design.

What to look at as a parent

The date first. A recent judgement tells you about the school as it is now. Schools change quickly when leadership changes.
The pattern across areas. Look for strengths in the areas that matter most to your child, and check whether any area needs attention.
Safeguarding. Met is the baseline you should expect.
Context beyond inspection. Exam results, absence rates and your own visit all matter. An inspection is one snapshot on one or two days.

Common questions

Do schools in England still get an overall Ofsted grade?: No. Since 10 November 2025 an Ofsted inspection produces a report card that grades several areas of school life separately, rather than one overall word such as Good or Outstanding. Older single grades still appear on a school's page, each shown with its date and the system it was made under.
What do the report card grades mean?: Each area is judged on a five-point scale: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention and Urgent improvement. Expected standard means the school is doing what it should rather than that it is mediocre, and a mixed card with different grades across areas is normal.
How is safeguarding reported?: Safeguarding is not graded on the five-point scale. It is reported as either met or not met. Where it is not met, Ofsted expects swift action and usually returns quickly to check on progress.
My child's school was rated Good a few years ago. Does that still count?: It stands as the last published judgement until the school is inspected again, but read it with its date in mind. A grade from 2019 describes the school as it was then, and we never translate an old grade into a report card grade, because the two measure different things.