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Press release: New inspection contractors appointed

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) has announced the successful bids for the inspection contracts in schools, colleges, apprenticeships, adult skills and Initial Teacher Education, to commence in September 2009. The announcement of successful bidders is subject to the standstill period as required by European legislation. The current arrangements with inspection contractors finish at the end of August 2009.

Inspection contracts will be structured around three contract areas (North, South, and Midlands). The new arrangements have been extended to include all inspections in maintained schools, independent schools that do not belong to an association, colleges, apprenticeships, adult skills and Initial Teacher Education. The contracts will run from September 2009 until the end of August 2015. They will involve additional inspectors working with HMI in a similar way to the current contracts.

Ofsted has a track record of delivering high quality inspections through partnership with contractors. The new arrangements will ensure Ofsted has a high quality, flexible and diverse workforce to call upon, ready to promote change and responsive to the changing demands of the inspection environments.

Each contractor will be accountable to Ofsted for inspection within their contract area and will be expected to work with other contractors when necessary, for example, to support the inspection of large providers that span contract areas. The contractors will also provide additional inspectors to support survey work and targeted inspection for Comprehensive Area Assessments. Ofsted will continue to be responsible for the management, quality assurance and support of these latter areas of work.

The following inspection service contractors have been appointed:

• CfBT Education Trust to cover the contract area for the North

• Serco Education to cover the contract area for the Midlands

• Tribal Group to cover the contract area for the South.

Under the new contract arrangements commencing in September 2009:

• contractual requirements for maintained schools will remain broadly the same.

• further education colleges and non-association independent school inspections will be carried out by the three new contractors

• contractors will provide additional inspectors to support survey work where required.

• the scope of the contracts will now include: all work based, adult, and community learning; Initial Teacher Education; targeted inspections for Comprehensive Area Assessment; Early Years Foundation Stage and early years in maintained schools that are directly under the responsibility of a school’s governing body or where the provision is on a school site.

• Support arrangements will bring all inspections broadly into line with current arrangements for maintained schools inspection.

Notes For Editors

1. Under the current contract arrangements (which finish at the end of this academic year, 2008/9), Ofsted has contracts with five regional inspection service providers (RISPS) who support school inspections by recruiting, managing and deploying additional inspectors, quality assuring their work, and by providing administrative support services. At present, Ofsted also contracts with two national inspection service providers (NISPS): one for colleges and one for independent schools.

2. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects registered childcare and children's social care, including adoption and fostering agencies, residential schools, family centres and homes for children. It also inspects all state maintained schools, non-association independent schools, pupil referral units, further education, initial teacher education, and publicly funded adult skills and employment-based training, the Children and Family Courts Advisory Service (Cafcass), and the overall level of services for children in local authority areas.

3. The Ofsted Press Office can be contacted on 08456 404040 between 8am – 6pm Monday – Friday. During evenings and weekends we can be reached on 07919 057359.

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