How did Ofsted begin?

The creation of the office for standards in education children’s services and skills, or Ofsted as it is better known, has recently come under the spotlight.  Ofsted is an independent organisation whose role it is to inspect and regulate the services that education provides for children.  They also look at the provision of care for young children and young people in England.  Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate bodies.  The service looks at all aspects of school life including that of its online presence. If you have ever visited Primary School Websites like the ones that are created by fsedesign.co.uk/websites-for-schools/primary-school-websites  you will know the amount of work that is required for this service.   This is but one of the aspects of education and care that Ofsted looks at.

They were formed in 1992 as part of the Education Schools act.  This completely reformed the structure of education in England.  One of its primary aims was to get rid of the Inner London Education Authority and sought to move the responsibility of education from local authorities to schools themselves to save money.  This system needed to be inspected and therefore Ofsted was born.

Ofsted original remit was to purely look at schools but this was widened to a range of other education and services for children as the industry began to expand.  Childminders, Nurseries and  children’s care homes are also covered by Ofsted.  It is not directly part of the government but does report to Parliament.  It exists to ensure standards are met.