Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Oral Statement on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life of 7 July 2025, Official Report, column 680-682, whether Ofsted will publish updated inspection (a) criteria and (b) frameworks for early years settings .

Ofsted has delivered important changes to the way it works in response to the Big Listen consultation. This important work is ongoing, and together we are committed to improving the inspection system. Ofsted will publish the response to its recent consultation on ‘Improving the way Ofsted inspects education’ in September 2025. The response will include the updated education inspection frameworks, which have been iterated based on consultation feedback. The updated frameworks will inform Ofsted’s new inspection reporting method, the Ofsted report card, which will be implemented from November 2025. Ofsted report cards will provide broader and richer information about the quality of provision and outcomes for children and babies at the time of an inspection.