This is from virtual roadshows on the new area SEND inspection framework, held by Ofsted, CQC, Department for Education and NHSE. It explains the changes under the new framework and how we gather evidence on inspection; gives an update on the SEND green paper reforms; and sets out the plans for carrying out thematic visits, that will focus on alternative provision this year.

1. Area SEND virtual roadshow
‘What to expect on an ASEND
inspection’
Slides from roadshows held 11 to 13
January 2023

2. Contents
 Main changes under the new framework
 What to expect on an area SEND inspection
 How we gather evidence
 Support and challenge following inspection
 SEND reforms

3. Background
 In May 2016, Ofsted and CQC introduced a one-off programme of
local area SEND inspections.
 The programme of full inspections was completed in April 2022; the
revisits continued up to December 2022.
 Aims:
 To assess how well local areas were implementing the reforms introduced by
the Children and Families Act 2014;
 The extent to which they were meeting their responsibilities towards children
and young people with SEND.

4. Towards a new inspection
framework
 In 2020, DfE, with the support of DHSC, commissioned
Ofsted and CQC to develop a new area SEND inspection
framework to operate from early 2023.
 Aims:
 Ensure no accountability gap between inspection
frameworks.
 Include a greater focus on the experiences of children and
young people with SEND and their families
 Give more prominence to the quality, integration and
commissioning of education, health and care services
 Include evaluation of alternative provision commissioning

5. Main changes under the new area
SEND framework

6. 5-year
cycle
Frequency
based on
previous
outcomes
Relevant
additional
info
received by
Ofsted/CQC
Inspect at
least once
every 5
years
A continuous inspection cycle

7. A continuous inspection cycle
 The frequency and type of inspection activity in any individual local
area will be based on a number of factors including:
 previous inspection outcomes
 time since last inspection or revisit
 any other information that Ofsted and/or CQC receive which may
indicate that an inspection may need to take place sooner
 other Ofsted and CQC inspections that may involve local area
partners – as far as possible, we will take the timing of all these
inspections into account when planning the overall inspection
schedule.

8. Introduction of three inspection
outcomes
 Under the new framework there will be
three distinct inspection outcomes
which determine future inspection activity.
 Inspectors provide an overall summary
judgement about the local area
partnership which reflects their evaluations
about the impact of arrangements on
children and young people with SEND.

9. 1. Full inspection within five years
2. Engagement meetings with local
area partnerships
Inspection outcome: positive experiences and outcomes
The local area partnership’s SEND arrangements typically lead to
positive experiences and outcomes for children and young people with
SEND. The local area partnership is taking action where improvements are
needed.

10. 1. Full inspection within three years
2. Engagement meetings with local
area partnerships
Inspection outcome: inconsistent experiences and outcomes
The local area partnership’s arrangements lead to inconsistent
experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
The local area partners must work jointly to make improvements

11. 1. Submission of priority action plan
2. Monitoring inspection usually within 18 months
3. Full reinspection usually within three years
4. Engagement meetings with local area
partnerships
Inspection outcome: widespread and/or significant failings
There are widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant
concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young
people with SEND, which the local area partnership must address urgently.

12. Alternative provision
 Inspections under the area
SEND framework will look at
how local authorities
commission AP and their
oversight of the AP in their
area.
 Inspections will not consider
the commissioning of AP by
schools and other
education providers.

13. Engagement meetings
 To support the inspection cycle, the framework introduces
engagement meetings
 Ofsted’s regional director working with CQC managers will exercise
their discretion about the timing of the meetings, taking into
account inspection outcomes and any recent inspection activity
 The meetings will take place at a mutually convenient time to
Ofsted, CQC and leaders within the local area partnership.
 We have clarified in the framework the purpose, structure and
expectations of engagement meetings in direct response to the
consultation.

14. understands needs
is working to improve
its services
identifies and acts
on concerns
is up to date with changes in
the SEND system
engages with children
and families
Ofsted and
CQC will
seek to
understand
whether the
local area:
Engagement meetings
Timing will be determined by previous inspection
outcomes and any recent inspection activity

15. Focus in-depth Share learning
National theme
Thematic visits
As part of the new inspection arrangements, Ofsted and CQC will carry out a
series of thematic reviews. We’ll conduct visits to a small number of areas to
investigate a particular aspect of the SEND system in greater depth.

16. Thematic visits: alternative provision
 We are proposing visits to a small
number of areas in the spring and
summer 2023
 We propose to publish guidance in
early 2023
 We hope to publish the first thematic
report on findings in autumn 2023

17. What to expect on an area SEND
inspection

18. No more revisits
Any area that has not received a revisit will have a full
inspection under the new framework within 3 years.
Written Statement of Action will be taken into
account by inspectors
Ofsted and CQC will expect local area partnerships to
continue working on areas that were previously
identified as needing improvement and if there are still
concerns in those areas we will report accordingly.
Continuity with the old framework

19. Offsite
Inspection
report
Offsite
Notification
Inspection process
Preparation
Offsite Offsite & Onsite
Evidence
gathering

20. Multi-agency working
Education
Social care
Health
To gain a more holistic
view of the impact of
local SEND services and
systems.

21. Annex A – request for information
Inspectors will request information from the local area partnership
about:
 its strategy and commissioning arrangements for children and young
people with SEND
 person-level data, which inspectors will use to select the children and
young people whose experiences they will evaluate
 providers and services (including alternative education providers)
Inspectors will also request from the local authority information
about its commissioning arrangements for alternative provision.

22. How we will gather evidence

23. Week 1: offsite inspection activities
Select
Notification Request Disseminate
Notify the local area
10 working days
before onsite activity
and discuss
inspection timetable
Request information
from local area
partnership for key
documents as
described in Annex A
6 children and young
people to be selected
for tracking
Disseminate surveys

24. Week 2: offsite and onsite inspection
activities
Meetings
Tracking meetings Analysis
Finalise onsite
inspection timetable
with the local area
Tracking meetings
with children and
young people
Virtual meetings Analysis of
information
Confirm

25. Gathering evidence directly
 The inspection team will select the individual
cases taking account of the range of needs and
the demographics of the area​.
 Inspectors will select 6 children and young people.
 Inspectors will select cases representing each of the
4 areas of need (communication and interaction;
cognition and learning; social, emotional and mental
health difficulties; sensory and/or physical needs), 2
receiving SEN support and 1 in AP.
 This will help the understanding of impact and
develop lines of enquiry to be followed through
onsite evidence gathering.
Tracking meetings

26. We have improved the accessibility of
the surveys by making them available in a
range of formats, including multimedia
content and improving the clarity of the
language.
Gathering evidence directly
Surveys

27. Accessibility: multimedia
 Audio recordings for each question for all three surveys. The easy
read version does not have audio recordings
 Short videos for each CYP question that provide additional
explanation or examples for the questions.
 An introduction video at the beginning of each survey that explains
the purpose of the survey and gives some background about what
the inspections are about.
 We also supply paper copies to the local area that they can
distribute although we encourage the surveys to be completed
online for analysis purposes.

28. Week 3: onsite inspection activities
Slide 28
On-site evidence gathering Feed back inspection findings to the
local area partnership

29. Week 3: onsite inspection activities
 Inspectors will carry out a range of evidence gathering activities,
including:
 sampling visits of providers – note that those providers are not
under inspection themselves
 having discussions with children and young people with SEND,
parents and carers, and practitioners
 scrutinising evidence provided by the local area partnership
 focused sampling of the partnership’s decision-making processes,
including in relation to vulnerable cohorts of children and young
people with SEND.

30. Week 3: onsite inspection activities
 This evidence will be cross-referenced with:
 inspector’s scrutiny of a range of data as set out in Annex A of
the area SEND framework and handbook )
 inspectors’ own observations
 the outcomes of our surveys of children and young people, their
families and the practitioners and professionals who work with
them
 the partnership’s own evaluations of its impact.

31. Gathering evidence directly
Discussions
with children
and young
people
Discussions
with parents and
carers
Inspection team
meetings
Meeting with
leaders

32. Discussions with children and young people
 Inspectors will meet with groups of children and young people to:
 understand their experiences and outcomes
 understand how the local area partnership engages with them
and what impact this has
 identify any common themes that will contribute to lines of
enquiry for the inspection
 discuss their views on effective practice and how the local area
partnership could improve its arrangements

33. Discussions with parents and carers
 Inspectors will meet with parents and carers during the inspection
to:
 understand the impact on their child of the local
area’s SEND arrangements
 understand the impact on the wider family
 identify effective practice and how arrangements could be
improved
 gain more information about specific lines of enquiry.

34. Inspection team meetings and meetings with
leaders
 The team will meet each day to discuss and record emerging
findings.
 In a final team meeting, inspectors will summarise key evidence,
make final evaluative judgements and agree the main points of
feedback to the local area.
 Inspectors will hold a series of meetings with area representatives
throughout the inspection, including an initial meeting with
leaders, discussions about the area’s self-evaluation and planning,
regular keep-in-touch meetings and the final feedback at the end
of week 3.

35. Gathering evidence directly –
Focused sampling
 Inspectors will evaluate the decision-making
processes and oversight for specific groups of
children and young people with SEND.
 These include quality of ECHPs, Fair Access
protocols and the Dynamic Support Register.

36. Gathering evidence directly –
Focused sampling
 Inspectors will select a number of children and
young people’s, review their information and
discuss with the local area officer(s)
directly involved in the decision-making and
oversight of those cases.
 We will use the focused sampling to review the
local area partnership’s oversight for particular
cohorts of children and young people with SEND,
for example, those with high rates of absence,
those education EOTAS, those known to Youth
Justice and those not on a school roll or home
educated.

37. Gathering evidence directly –
Sampling visits
 Inspectors will visit a number of providers and services
across education, health and care.
 They will evaluate children and young people’s
experiences and outcomes by reviewing documents
and discussing with a practitioner(s).
 Inspectors will test their initial lines of enquiry through
other inspection activities, such as having meetings with
stakeholders and sampling of larger groups of children and
young people across education, health and care.
 These are not inspections of the providers.

38. Gathering evidence directly – education
 These visits may include settings such as nurseries, schools,
colleges, alternative provision and specialist services.
 They may include meeting children and young people and, if
appropriate, scrutinising files and talking to practitioners.

39. Gathering evidence directly – health
 These visits will include universal, targeted and specialist health
teams, such as speech and language therapy services and children
and young people’s mental health teams.
 Providers and services will gather evidence of the assessment,
intervention and transition stages of health support.

40. Gathering evidence directly – social care
 This may include visits to services such as the disabled children’s
team, early intervention support and adult social care teams.
 Social care will consider the identification, assessment, intervention
and transition stages of social care support.

41. Gathering evidence directly –
Alternative provision
Meet LA leaders
Sampling visits
to AP providers
Child or young person
tracking Discuss SEND with
senior leaders
Review AP
arrangements
Focused sampling

42. Gathering evidence directly – alternative provision
 Inspectors will meet with local authority leaders and managers to
understand the local authority’s processes and decision-making.
 They will carry out visits in one or more alternative provision
settings as part of the sampling activity.
 Through focused sampling activities, inspectors will review the
information received about the local authority’s arrangements for
alternative provision. This will include:
 review the fair access protocols
 sample EHCPs for children and young people attending
alternative provision

43. Meetings as
part of the
inspection
activity
Health
practitioners
Parents/Carers
Children and
young
people
Area leaders
and
managers
Care
practitioners
SENDIAS
meeting
Education
practitioners

44. Meetings as part of the inspection activity
 During offsite and onsite inspection activity, the inspection team will
gather evidence from a wide range of professionals, children, young
people and their families through a range of meetings through our
case tracking, sampling visits and focused sampling activities.
 Meetings may be virtual or face to face. We have found through
pilots that one or the other is more effective rather than a combined
face to face and virtual.
 Lead inspectors will work with you to schedule the necessary
meetings.

45. Post-inspection

46. Publishing the inspection report
 The draft report is usually shared within 14 working days.
 The local area has 10 working days to comment on the
draft report.
 The report intended for publication is shared with the local
area within 30 working days .
 The local area has 5 working days to submit a complaint.
 Publication is 3 working days later.

47. Inspection reports
 Through the consultation, we have responded to requests for our
reports to be more accessible and follow our standard reporting
format such as Ofsted’s school inspection reports
 The reports will therefore look a little different, starting with what
it’s like to be a child or young person in the local area along
with what the local area is doing well, what is not going so well and
what they need to do to improve the experiences and outcomes for
children and young people.

48. Publishing updated strategic plans
 We ask that strategic plans are published 30
working days following publication of the
inspection report.
 This should include the actions the area partnership
is taking, or will take, in response to the
recommendations made in the inspection report.
 Local area partnerships are not required to produce
new strategic plans, but instead should update
existing plans.

49. Priority action plan (area SEND)
 Ofsted and CQC ask the local area to submit a priority action
plan within 30 working days following the publication of the
inspection report. Ofsted and CQC will then decide whether to
approve the action plan.
 The local area must publish the final priority action plan (area
SEND) within 70 working days of the publication of the
inspection report.
 Set out actions to address the areas for priority action in the
inspection report, the responsible organisation for each
proposed action, and the period within which the action is to
be taken.

50. Department for Education and
NHS England support and
challenge

51. DfE and NHSE approach to improvement
Committed to a proportionate and evidence-based
improvement.
Consideration given to a holistic view of the context of, and
challenges in, a local area.
The proposed support and challenge response post-inspection,
increases in intensity across the three outcomes.
It looks to celebrate effective practice, pitches support and challenge
at the accountable partner(s) and ensures wider knowledge can be
drawn upon.
DfE officials and NHSE nationals and regions are developing a
consistent and robust response to the outcome of a Monitoring Visit
letter from CQC/Ofsted.

52. Increase in support and challenge
Positive experiences and outcomes
Celebrate effective practice
Light touch contact
Offer of general support for
identified areas for improvement.
Explore effective practice
Formal joint monitoring against
strategic improvement plans with
DfE and NHSE
Offer of bespoke support for
identified areas for improvement.
Inconsistent experiences and outcomes
Widespread and/or systemic failings
leading to significant concerns
Exploring opportunities for further
improvement
Joint formal monitoring of priority
action plan with DfE and NHSE
Direct support package agreed to
address areas of priority action
Statutory interventions considered
on case-by case basis.

53. Local areas currently with a WSoA / APP
Until inspected under the new
framework, DfE officials and
NHSE regions will continue to
jointly monitor, review, support
and challenge these local
areas.
For areas with an APP, formal
monitoring and appropriate
application of the step-down
policy will continue until the
local area is inspected under
the new framework.
All areas implementing Written
Statements of Action will
continue to be monitored,
supported and challenged until
they are inspected under the
new framework (within the first
3 years).
The nature and frequency of
that monitoring will be decided
on a case-by-case basis.

54. Update – green paper
 The SEND and alternative provision green paper aims to improve experiences
within a fairer, more inclusive and sustainable system across education, health and
care.
 We will publish an Improvement Plan (IP) by March that will:
Focus on delivery
Reflect the
feedback from
the consultation
Outline the
immediate
steps we will
be taking
Ensure long-
term sustainable
system change

55. Thank you
If you have any further questions, please contact us at
area.send@ofsted.gov.uk