Submission to Consultation on Improving the Way Ofsted Inspects Education

In this submission in January 2025, The Bell Foundation elaborated on what must be implemented in the new proposed Ofsted report cards and inspection toolkits in order to support those disadvantaged children in schools who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) and disadvantaged learners in Further Education and Skills (FES) provision who are speakers of other languages and are developing competence in English.

Our submission addressed how Ofsted can recognise the needs of disadvantaged EAL and multilingual learners in the design of all new Ofsted toolkits, from the definition of inclusion in the inspection framework to report cards themselves.

We recommended that Ofsted:

• Considers explicitly including EAL and multilingual learners in the definition of inclusion, the toolkit, and the new inspection framework.
• Delivers high-quality in-depth training for inspectors in order to hold schools to account for ensuring inclusive education for disadvantaged multilingual learners.
• Considers initiatives to ensure that report cards inform parents and carers of the quality of local schools in an easy-to-understand way.
• Develops a more nuanced and informed approach to recognising, inspecting, and reporting on the needs of multilingual learners.