OFSTED and CQC SEND area inspections

Information useful for forums on the OFSTED and CQC SEND area inspections and the forum’s role.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspect services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in a local area.

The frequency of inspection activity for areas is based on inspection outcomes. But all local areas will receive a full inspection at least once during a 5-year period. 

The purpose of the inspection is to: 

• Provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with SEND.

• Where appropriate, recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements. 

SEND Inspection Framework 2024 

As part of the inspection process, inspectors will assess children and young people’s experiences of education, health and care in their local area are positive, and why. Forums will want to share with their membership the OFSTED and CQC survey so they can feed their views and experiences into the inspection. 

You can read more by reading the Area SEND inspections: framework and handbook. 

Parent carer forum involvement

Inspectors will meet remotely with representatives from the PCF at the start of the inspection. This is to: 

• Identify any common themes that contribute to developing lines of enquiry for the inspection 
• Discuss their views on effective practice and how the local area partnership could improve its arrangements for children and young people with SEND 

The lead inspector and the LANO (Local Area Nominated Officer) will arrange a meeting with leaders on the first day on site. This meeting is to review the local area partnership’s self-evaluation, strategy and associated action plans. It is normal for a representative of the PCF to attend this meeting. 

Each inspection will include the inspection team meeting with different leaders and practitioners. Forum representatives may also be invited to these meetings to share the experiences of families. 

The inspection concludes with a final feedback meeting attended by the LANO and representatives of the local area, including forum representatives. Until the OFSTED and CQC inspection letter is published, the results of the inspection are embargoed and cannot be shared more widely.  

Remember that forums are not inspected as part of the visit. Their role is one of providing evidence and representing parent views. Forums can see an increased workload during the inspection, and it is important to remember to look after one another.

Contact and the NNPCF can provide support to forums. Make sure your Contact adviser and regional NNPCF director are aware the area is being inspected. 

Do you have any thoughts about this page? Visit our How to feedback page to share them.

Looking for something else? You can find a full list of pages on our Parent carer forum handbook contents page.

Support for forums

OFSTED

Area SEND inspections handbook

Find out more

NNPCF website

Find out more information about the role of forums in OFSTED inspections

Find out more

Ofsted local area inspections

Click here to watch this video on our YouTube channel

Find out more

NNPCF

Find out more about the role of the NNPCF

National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF)

Contact adviser

Find your named parent carer participation adviser

Parent Carer Participation Adviser

Working in partnership

Find out more about the forums role in working with different partners

Working in partnership