The inspectorate’s judgements

If a school or governing body meets the statutory requirements for basic quality, then the school or governing body will receive the overall judgement ‘adequate’. If they fail to meet the basic quality requirements, they will be judged to be ‘inadequate’. Schools may be judged to be ‘very weak’ if they perform below the applicable statutory standard. The inspection framework for each educational sector indicates when the judgement will be adequate, inadequate (or very weak).

On the level of the standards governing bodies and schools can receive three judgements: Good, Adequate of Inadequate. A standard is judged as Inadequate when the governing body or school does not meet the statutory requirements for that standard. A standard is judged as Good, if the governing body or school performs exceptionally well on this area. By setting out and reaching ambitious goals.