When an inspection is approaching, the temptation is to do more more paperwork, more meetings, more checks, more rehearsals and more requests for evidence.
Much of that activity feels reassuring to leaders because it is visible. However, it is important to remember that staff are busy, folders are filling and calendars are crowded.
Visible activity is not the same as useful preparation. In fact, an inspection plan that exhausts staff before inspectors arrive is likely to make the school less confident, less coherent and less able to show its everyday strengths.
The most helpful principle is simple: inspection preparation belongs mainly to leaders.
Stick to the truth
Teachers, teaching assistants and support staff should not be asked to construct a parallel version of school life for visitors. Their job is to teach, support pupils and keep the school running well.
Leaders should understand the framework, shape the school’s story and remove unnecessary anxiety.
That distinction matters under the Report Card framework. More evaluation areas can easily produce more tasks: a separate grid for every subject, fresh evidence folders, scripted answers, mock interviews and a flurry of lesson visits. Resist please!
Ofsted’s published materials make it clear that evidence should come largely from professional conversations, observation of normal practice and documents the school already uses. They do not require schools to manufacture paperwork specifically for inspection. Take that at face value, and make it your workload rule.
Start with a ‘Not to do’ list
Before creating an inspection action plan, write down what the school will not do. No late-night rewriting of plans. No new marking expectations. Very importantly, no graded lesson observations.
Please don’t be tempted by this to build evidence of teaching quality. Put graded lesson observations firmly in the bin and keep them there!
No subject-by-subject self-evaluations. No request for teachers to assemble showcase folders. No cosmetic display overhaul. No performative initiatives introduced because someone has thought, ‘Ofsted will want to see it.’
Let Ofsted’s guides be yours.
Give staff one clear, calm message
A short briefing is more useful than a sequence of anxious updates. Tell staff what will happen, what may be asked of them and, crucially, what will not be expected of them.
A message such as this is powerful: “Teach your normal lessons, follow our normal routines, answer honestly and ask for clarification if a question is unclear. You do not need to prepare anything extra.”
However, there’s nothing wrong with engaging your inspector in conversation, if the opportunity allows. You can also use this opportunity to introduce them to some supporting material.
Share a single-page summary of the school’s core story with colleagues: its context, priorities, recent improvement and a handful of examples that show its values in action. The aim is not to script people. It is to give them a shared map.
Offer your Commentary as pre-inspection reading for everyone, but never expect it to be read. Some staff will love it, some won’t.
Prepare the narrative, not a paper mountain
An Inspection Commentary can do more than dozens of folders. It should help leaders explain the school’s context, what has improved, what is working well and why.
A commentary should be hugely positive, drawing on evidence already used to run the school. You can find much more information on writing a commentary in my latest book, Taking Control 3.
Confidence for staff comes from understanding, not volume of information. A well-chosen example of how a vulnerable pupil was supported, how attendance improved for a particular group, or how professional learning changed your classroom practice, often says more than generic claims.
Use a small number of authentic examples and know where the underlying evidence sits if inspectors ask for it. Be savvy.
Protect normal teaching
The fastest way to raise pressure is to suggest that staff must perform on the day. Avoid ‘showcase lessons’, last-minute changes to planning or instructions to display particular strategies.
Such activity can unsettle pupils and make experienced teachers doubt their judgement. Inspectors need to see how the school typically operates, so normality is an advantage.
Plan for the human beings in the room
Inspection creates uncertainty, and uncertainty creates pressure. Reduce both with practical arrangements made well in advance.
Decide who will coordinate the timetable, who will remain available to staff, who will handle documents and who will step in if a leader needs a pause.
Build breathing space into the schedule rather than packing every minute. Protect lunch, arrange sensible cover and make sure no one is left carrying their normal workload alongside a full day of inspection meetings.
Language matters. Avoid military briefings, countdowns and warnings that every interaction counts. Give the message that this is a short external view of a school that our staff know very well.
No one is expected to be perfect. If leaders communicate panic, that travels. If they are visible, organised and calm, calmness spreads.
Make the day less dramatic
On the morning of inspection, keep the briefing concise. Confirm practical arrangements, thank staff and send them to their normal work. Do not circulate new documents or not hold a late meeting unless there is essential information to share.
During the day, filter requests. Inspectors should have access to the people and evidence they reasonably need, but not every request has to have a response of ‘yes’. A protected staff does not mean an obstructive school, it means a well-led one.
After inspectors leave, mark the end of the event. Thank staff promptly and specifically. Tell them what happens next and when they can expect an update.
Discourage talk outside the school, but do not impose silence within, colleagues may need to talk, decompress and seek support. If the outcome is difficult, leaders should not carry it alone. Use trusted colleagues, governance, trust or local-authority support and appropriate wellbeing services.
And if the outcome is not positive, talk to someone. Please.
The best preparation is sustainable
The best approach is not to prepare everybody for every possible question. It is to create a small, proportionate system that leaders can maintain between inspections, built upon an up-to-date school inspection commentary. But not to prepare at all really is to preparing to fail.
Inspection pressure can’t be removed entirely. It can, however, be contained. Leaders do that not by demanding more, but by deciding what matters and what can safely be left undone.
The most confident schools are not those that create the biggest inspection machine. They are those whose staff can carry on doing their jobs, knowing that their leaders have prepared carefully and have their backs.
Paul Garvey was a teacher for 22 years and is a former lead inspector for Ofsted. He has also supported many schools in preparing for inspection. Paul is the author of Taking Control, Taking Control 2 and Talk for Teaching. His latest book, Taking Control 3: How to Prepare for Ofsted Under the Report Card Framework is out now.
Asking for help
The pressure of getting the call shouldn’t be yours alone, and your mental health is more important than the result of the inspection. Keep talking to trusted colleagues, friends and family, and seek outside help whenever you need it.
Education Support helpline: 08000 562 561
Samaritans helpline: 116 123
