Understanding the new evaluation scale

Ofsted is now using an evaluation scale for each area of the report, and there is no overall grade. The evaluation scale for each evaluation area, other than safeguarding (which is met/not met), is:

• Exceptional (highest quality provision): an evaluation area can be graded ‘exceptional’ when all the strong standards have been met and if it meets all the additional standards in the ‘exceptional’ section of the toolkit.
• Strong standard: an evaluation area can be graded ‘strong standard’ when all the expected standards and all the strong standards have been met.
• Expected standard: an evaluation area can be graded ‘expected standard’ when all the standards are met – this includes meeting the legal requirements and the expectations set out in statutory guidance, as well as the professional standards required of the particular type of provision, where these apply.
• Needs attention: an evaluation area can be graded ‘needs attention’ when the ‘expected standard’ has not been met because some aspects of provision are inconsistent, limited in scope or impact and/or not fully meeting the legal requirements.
• Urgent improvement (lowest quality provision): an evaluation area can be graded ‘urgent improvement’ when it needs urgent action to provide a suitable standard of education and/or care for children and learners.¹

What does Ofsted mean by inclusion?

Inclusion is measured across the provider as a whole. It goes beyond just supporting SEND learners and includes a wider range of learners who may face barriers to participation and achievement.

This includes disadvantaged learners, as defined in the Ofsted toolkit, such as those from low‑income families, learners who have been eligible for free school meals in the past six years, those who are in care or care leavers, and learners who have previously been not in education, employment or training (NEET). Learners without Level 2 English and maths are also included. Some inspection reports also reference specific actions taken to support minority groups, for example learners from Traveller communities.

So far in 2026, 58 Ofsted Report Cards have been published. The examples below reflect common themes seen across these inspections.

Strong Standard

The following examples illustrate what a strong standard in inclusion looks like according to Ofsted:

• Leaders consistently ensure that staff accurately identify the individual needs of apprentices and learners at the start of their course and through ongoing discussions. They ensure that tutors use this information to produce highly effective support plans, enabling apprentices and learners to thrive.
• Leaders work closely with specialist professionals and external agencies to ensure that apprentices and learners with the most complex learning needs are very well supported.
• Leaders ensure that the support provided for the development of English and mathematics knowledge and skills is patient, personalised and relevant to...contexts. This successfully contributes towards apprentices and learners achieving very well.
• Leaders have established a culture of inclusion that permeates throughout the provider and ensures that apprentices feel welcomed, valued and supported. They foster a highly effective partnership with a professional inclusion specialist to provide individually tailored learning and mental health support services for apprentices who face considerable barriers to their learning or wellbeing.
• At the start of the apprenticeship, staff identify swiftly and accurately apprentices’ individual learning needs through sound screening processes. Staff carefully create additional learning plans for each apprentice’s individual needs. Staff and trainers work very closely to set, monitor and adjust apprentices’ target dates when needed.
• Trainers go to great lengths to get to know their apprentices. Learning mentors and trainers create safe spaces for apprentices to talk in confidence. Apprentices feel that this helps them to maintain an appropriate balance between the demands of their apprenticeship and their workload. The barriers to apprentices’ learning and wellbeing reduce significantly over time.
• Leaders implement highly effective support for apprentices. Staff accurately determine the most appropriate support to ensure that apprentices make substantial progress. For example, the wires in car engines are number coded for apprentices with colour blindness.
• Leaders ensure that staff benefit from focused training to help them to confidently and consistently provide the support and supervision that apprentices need. For instance, they provide high-quality training in creating a workplace that embraces neurodiversity, incident response, mental health awareness and making reasonable adjustments.
• Staff support apprentices with specific health needs such as panic attacks very well. They discuss with each apprentice what is working well and skilfully tailor interventions. Leaders carefully monitor apprentices' progress, including those with barriers to learning, to ensure that they remain ambitious for their apprentices. They quickly increase or reduce the support as necessary in order to develop apprentices’ independence. 

Expected Standard

The following examples illustrate what expected standard practice in inclusion looks like based on Ofsted findings.

• Leaders have created an inclusive culture in which staff know their apprentices well and support them to participate fully in learning.
• Leaders provide staff with useful training to help them to meet learners’ needs. They also get expert advice from external agencies to provide guidance for those with, for example, dyslexia or autism.
• Learning support assistants and tutors benefit from training in autism awareness, mindfulness, mental health and grief and bereavement. They identify barriers to learning and put appropriate support for learners in place swiftly. They make appropriate adaptations to their teaching and meet learners' individual needs effectively.
• Leaders work effectively with employers so that apprentices’ needs are met in the workplace as well as in the training centre. They carefully monitor apprentices’ progress and review the effectiveness of the support strategies that they put in place, making suitable adaptations as necessary.
• Staff identify apprentices' barriers to learning and support needs appropriately. They agree support plans and helpful strategies with apprentices. They ensure trainers, line managers and subcontractor staff understand apprentices’ needs. Apprentices benefit from helpful interventions such to reduce barriers to their learning.
• Staff provide practical support such as laptop loans and physical adaptations to workstations for apprentices who require reasonable adjustments. Staff do not consistently record decisions regarding changes to support for apprentices, and so do not fully know the impact these changes may have.
• Staff accommodate apprentices with poor health or family crises well. They use breaks in learning effectively, enabling apprentices to return, achieve and thrive. 

Needs attention

The following examples illustrate what needs attention in inclusion looks like based on Ofsted findings.

• Leaders have only recently sought out specialist expertise to understand fully and support apprentices’ individual needs. Their processes to record and review the support they provide to apprentices, who have declared special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) at enrolment, are not effective enough. Very recent applicants have had their needs assessed.
• Leaders have started to provide teaching staff training to recognise and support apprentices with challenges associated with SEND. Teachers make some appropriate adjustments to remove barriers to learning. For example, they provide extra one-to-one meetings, additional teaching sessions, and allow more time for assignment submission.
• Leaders have not ensured that tutors have access to specialist training and expertise to help them support disadvantaged apprentices better, such as those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Tutors research learning disabilities and difficulties and mental health conditions, but do not have enough understanding of the specific adaptations needed for apprentices with specific learning support needs, such as dyslexia or for apprentices who speak English as an additional language. Staff rely too heavily on apprentices' own identification of their needs. 

What can providers take from this?

First and foremost, training and supporting staff in inclusion is the bare minimum. Where this is absent, providers consistently receive lower evaluation outcomes. However, inclusion is not a quick fix. Some providers had introduced training and support, but it was too early to see a meaningful impact on learners.

Talking to learners was also important, though if this was the entire basis of the support, it lessened the impact. A robust enrolment process is essential, giving staff the opportunity to understand learners’ needs from the outset. Crucially, these conversations must continue throughout the programme, with support reviewed and adapted as learners progress. Providers were commended in supporting learners to reduce their need for intervention and to become more independent over time. 

For apprentices, inclusion must extend beyond the provider setting into the workplace itself. Learners’ needs should be met consistently across both environments. It’s no coincidence that many providers demonstrating strong inclusive practice were employer providers, where they could ensure that those needs were being met.

In English, maths and digital skills (for learners not on standalone programmes), the key was ensuring that the support was relevant to both the learner and the context. Regular feedback on written work, targeted support for ESOL learners and the development of maths and digital skills in real‑world contexts were seen as the expected standard. This was often achieved through reflective writing and by using digital tools and devices as part of the programme.

What is also key is knowing the impact that inclusion has on individual learners and the whole ethos of a provider. It’s not enough to be inclusive; inclusion needs to be seen to be having a positive impact on learners, a measurable impact. Support for learners needs to be well informed, tailored and well planned. Leaders, tutors, learners, employers and governors all need to be on the same page to ensure that inclusion is working to the best degree.