Ofsted has a central role to play in ensuring that high standards of provision are maintained for all pupils, working with schools and colleges to promote inclusion and best practice.
It is key that Ofsted inspectors explicitly review the provision for learners whose first language is not English – in schools and in colleges – including the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. By reintroducing an explicit focus on this group of learners, inspections can highlight good practice, identify and prevent areas of concern (such as the use of "withdrawal practices"), and support schools and colleges to ensure the rights, needs, and outcomes of these learners are not overlooked.
EAL, and the specific focus on inspecting how schools integrate EAL learners and ensure their access to the curriculum, was removed from the Education Inspection Framework in 2019. References to EAL remain in the initial teacher education inspection handbook and Teacher Standard 5 but have also been removed from the school inspections handbook.