Ofsted to remove headline judgement from children’s services inspections from 2026

Ofsted has confirmed that the removal of the single-word ‘overall effectiveness’ judgements from April 2026.

Speaking at the NCASC Conference for children’s and adults’ services, Sir Martyn Oliver said the change was part of a set of reforms to the way it inspects local authorities’ children’s services.

The changes form part of a wider overhaul of inspection across all Ofsted remits following feedback from the Big Listen consultation.

The inspectorate said the move responds directly to concerns from social care professionals who argued that single-word ratings oversimplify the complexity of practice in children’s services. His Majesty’s Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver described the change as “a significant first step” in making inspections fairer and more meaningful.

From 2026, Ofsted will update its inspection of local authorities’ children’s services (ILACS) framework to better reflect the national direction of social care reform, including the shift towards Family Help, early intervention and supporting families to stay safely together. The revised framework will assess how well local authorities help children get the support they need, remain safe and experience stable, loving homes.

Inspectors will receive additional training to deepen their understanding of the reforms, supported by a new advisory reference group of national specialists, sector representatives and pathfinder councils. The group will help shape inspector development and provide feedback as changes are phased in.

Alongside the 2026 reforms, Ofsted will launch a major consultation with children, practitioners and local leaders on wider proposals for a renewed children and families services inspection framework, planned for introduction in 2027. The inspectorate said it intends to build on the strengths of the current ILACS model while modernising how it evaluates and reports on local services.

“During the Big Listen, social care professionals were consistently positive about our inspections but told us that single-word overall effectiveness judgements over-simplified the complexities of their work. I committed to reforming children’s social care inspections to raise standards and to do right by children and the professionals that support them. The removal of the headline judgement in ILACS is a significant first step in fulfilling this commitment,” Sir Martyn Oliver said.

He added that aligning inspections with the shift to Family Help is essential: “We know that most children are best served by remaining safely within a loving, supportive family. The move to Family Help, including early help and prevention, is a key focus of the wider reforms happening across children’s social care. It is important that our inspections reflect this and I look forward to speaking more about the updates we will be making to our framework in 2026.”

Ofsted will publish further details of the 2026 consultation next year as work begins on designing the new 2027 framework.