Your First Ofsted Inspection: What Happens, What Inspectors Check, and How to Prepare

Your first inspection usually falls in a window set by your registration date. Ofsted's inspection year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and the Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF) for children's homes sets out the usual pattern.

After that, a home normally receives a full inspection at least once a year.

What can change the timing?

• Your first child arrives. Newly registered homes must tell Ofsted when the first child arrives to stay, which helps Ofsted arrange the first inspection date.
• No children yet. If no children live in the home at the first inspection, Ofsted carries out an assurance inspection of whether the home still meets its registration requirements. No judgement is made.
• Concerns. Concerning information about a new home can bring an earlier full or assurance inspection.
• Your manager leaves. If the manager leaves before the first inspection, the first full inspection will usually take place within 4 weeks of the notification.

No. Ofsted's framework states that all inspections of children's homes are unannounced, so that inspectors see the home as it is day to day.

What happens when the inspector arrives?

The inspector shows their Ofsted identification and meets the registered manager or the person in charge to:

• confirm whether it is a full or an assurance inspection
• arrange to interview the registered manager
• set out early lines of enquiry, including any from your statement of purpose
• at a full inspection, give you a link to Annex A
• agree when verbal feedback will be given, and to whom

If the registered manager and the responsible individual are both unavailable, the responsible individual should name a suitable representative. Give the inspector access to the premises and records and somewhere to work; electronic records do not need printing unless the inspector asks.

If there is a reason the inspection cannot go ahead, ask for a deferral at the earliest opportunity; Ofsted decides case by case under its deferral policy.

Annex A is Ofsted's request for information at a full inspection of a children's home. At the start of the inspection the inspector gives you a link to the electronic form and agrees when it will be ready, and you send it back electronically. Ofsted requests it under section 31 of the Care Standards Act 2000.

What does the form ask for?

The current form, updated on 1 April 2026, covers the period since the last full inspection unless a question says otherwise:

What does it not ask for?

The form does not ask for DBS dates, supervision frequency, an accident log, independent person visit dates or a topic-by-topic training record: beyond qualifications and first aid, its one training question is about children's healthcare needs. Before arriving, inspectors read the reports Ofsted already holds under Regulation 44 (independent person: visits and reports) and Regulation 45 (review of quality of care) of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, and on site they can look at your recruitment records.

How do inspectors use it?

Your answers generate lines of enquiry, such as whether return home interviews are offered and whether children receive the education in their plan. If your answers conflict significantly with what inspectors find, they ask for a corrected version, and the conflict may inform their evaluation of leadership.

During a full inspection, one social care inspector usually spends up to 2 days on site following a sample of children's experiences, observing daily life and reading records where a line of enquiry calls for it.

Which children will inspectors focus on?

The sample usually includes:

• children who have recently moved in or recently left
• any child who has gone missing since the last inspection
• any child at risk of, or subject to, sexual or criminal exploitation
• any child living a considerable distance from their placing authority

They always look at unplanned endings to placements within the last 6 months or since the last inspection, whichever is more recent. Case files are usually discussed with a staff member who knows the child well, alongside observation and the views of children, families and professionals. Handovers, children's meetings and staff meetings are all opportunities to observe.

What will inspectors not do?

Inspectors do not routinely examine every policy, and they judge risk assessments on how they work in practice rather than their format. They do not count medication or petty cash, check vehicles or water temperatures, or look in fridges unless that is a specific line of enquiry. They want to see that your own monitoring is robust enough to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Inspectors speak to children, staff, the registered manager, the responsible individual and the professionals around each child.

How will inspectors talk to children?

The inspector always tries to meet children, seeks their consent and makes clear that taking part is voluntary. They may be shown round by a child, join a mealtime or activity, meet a small group (as a guideline, no more than 5 children) or observe rather than talk where that causes less stress. Comments will not identify a child in the report without their permission, but information suggesting a child is at risk of harm is passed on. Prepare children for the visit, but never coach their answers.

How will inspectors talk to staff?

Inspectors interview a sample of permanent staff and any agency staff working at the time, usually alone, although staff can ask for a colleague to be present. The inspector gives you a letter with their contact details to send to all staff.

What will managers and professionals be asked?

The registered manager's interview usually covers the ethos in the statement of purpose, each child's needs, how incidents are managed, the home's strengths and weaknesses, supervision, qualifications and safe recruitment. The inspector should always try to talk to the responsible individual, and always asks to interview them if there is no registered manager in post. Inspectors consult professionals such as placing social workers, independent reviewing officers, school staff and local police, usually by phone during the inspection, using the contacts in Annex A.

Inspectors make one headline judgement, the overall experiences and progress of children, on a four-point scale: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement to Be Good or Inadequate. They first make two judgements that they take into account:

• How well children are helped and protected is a limiting judgement: if it is Inadequate, the overall judgement is always Inadequate.
• The effectiveness of leaders and managers is a graded judgement: if it is Inadequate, the overall judgement is likely to be Inadequate, and certainly no better than Requires Improvement to Be Good.

There is no separate overall effectiveness grade. Each judgement is a best-fit professional evaluation against the SCCIF's description of good, not a checklist, and inspectors also take into account the nine Quality Standards.

What are requirements and recommendations?

Where a regulation is breached, the inspector can set a requirement that names the regulation and a date to put it right, which can fall before the report arrives, but a breach does not automatically lead to Requires Improvement to Be Good. Recommendations refer to the Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations.

Which leadership points matter for a new home?

• If a manager appointed for more than 12 weeks has not applied to be registered, the leadership and management judgement will usually be Inadequate.
• Inspectors check the registered manager's qualification against Regulation 28 (fitness of manager).

Prepare by keeping everyday records current from the day your first child arrives, because an unannounced inspection leaves no time to create them. The Launch44 SCCIF Evidence Map groups that evidence by judgement area so you can direct an inspector to it.

How do you apply the Evidence Map?

Experiences and progress of children

• Case records showing each child's progress from their starting point, and their views
• Education and health records that match your Annex A answers
• The children's guide and how each child was helped to understand it

How well children are helped and protected

• Individual risk assessments, missing records and the return home interviews offered
• Restraint and sanction records, reviewed and monitored by leaders (see the behaviour management policy guide)
• Child protection referrals and their outcomes under your safeguarding policy

Effectiveness of leaders and managers

• Regulation 44 reports and your Regulation 45 review
• Supervision records, the training plan and qualification progress
• The statement of purpose, the location assessment and your development plan

Why does the monitoring cycle matter?

Under Regulation 44 you must ensure an independent person visits the home at least once each month, and Ofsted requires the report before the end of the following month, even when no children live there. Regulation 45 requires a review of the quality of care at least once every 6 months. Inspectors read these reports and your notifications before they arrive, and a failure to submit them can lead Ofsted to reschedule an inspection.

After the visit, a draft report follows within 18 working days, and your judgement affects when Ofsted next inspects. The inspection ends with verbal feedback on the main findings and provisional judgements, usually to the registered manager and the responsible individual, and that day counts as the last day of the inspection. Inspectors do not give a written summary, so take your own notes.

When will you receive the report?

You can comment on the draft report, process and findings, or lodge a formal complaint if a concern could not be resolved during or after the inspection. If a judgement changes from the one given at feedback, the inspector explains why before the draft arrives.

What comes next for each judgement?

The grades guide covers each grade in detail.