OFSTED and Care Quality Commission Local Area SEND inspections
In January 2023, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) introduced a new framework for inspecting local area arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
Nottinghamshire was the first local area to be inspected using the new framework. Read the Nottinghamshire inspection outcome [PDF].
Who are the partners in Nottinghamshire?
The Nottinghamshire local area SEND Partnership brings together organisations across education, health, care, and the voluntary sector, which provide services to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND in the county.
The two accountable bodies are Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board.
What is the purpose of the inspection?
To provide independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership's arrangements for children and young people with SEND. Where appropriate, recommendations can be made on what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements.
Evaluation criteria
The evaluation criteria applies across education, health and care, to all service providers meeting the needs of all children and young people with SEND, as indicated in SEND code of practice.
Inspectors will evaluate:
- the impact of the local area partnership's SEND arrangements on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND
- how the local area partners work together to plan, evaluate and develop the SEND system.
Inspection models
- Full inspections
- Monitoring inspections: evaluate and report on progress in areas where Ofsted and the CQC have identified areas for priority action at a full inspection. The Nottinghamshire local area SEND Partnership is expecting a monitoring inspection during the school summer term.
- Annual engagement meetings: meetings between Ofsted and the CQC’s representatives and representatives of the local area partnership to review the partnership’s self-evaluation and action plan and discuss any challenges and how leaders are addressing them
- Area SEND thematic visits: visits to a small number of areas, with the aim of investigating a particular aspect of the SEND system in depth. Ofsted and the CQC will share learning from these visits in national reports. Thematic visits have been completed on alternative provision and preparation to adulthood to date.
What do we know about monitoring inspections?
The purpose of the monitoring inspection is to assess the extent to which the local area partners are taking effective action to address the areas for priority action set out in the inspection outcome letter.
Inspectors will carry out activities that are like those carried out in full inspections, including:
- discussions with leaders
- sampling visits to education, healthcare and social care providers
- holding meetings with young people, parents and carers, and professionals.
Depending on the areas of focus, this may include tracking meetings and surveys of children and young people, parents and carers, and practitioners.
Monitoring inspections are unannounced and begin when the Lead Inspector makes a phone call to the Director of Children's Services with a date for inspectors to be on site.
The monitoring inspection will always be led by a lead inspector from Ofsted, accompanied by a Children's Service Inspector from the CQC. The team will normally comprise of inspectors from education, health and care. Typically, inspectors will spend two days on site.
The inspection team will provide feedback on the final day of the monitoring inspection to inform leaders about whether sufficient progress has been made to address the areas of significant weakness detailed in the local area's priority action plan.
Find further details of the inspection evaluation criteria and monitoring inspections.
This guide will be updated once Ofsted has announced final arrangements for monitoring inspections.
