Summary

  • Ofsted will test an Independent Complaints Review service for state-funded schools inspected in 2026/27. The reviewer can see the original complaint, Ofsted's response and unredacted inspection evidence, then recommend that Ofsted looks again.
  • The reviewer cannot change a grade. HMCI must personally consider and answer every recommendation and retains the authority to set aside a report card or commission a new inspection.

A reviewer with access, but no grading power

Ofsted's 16 October announcement creates a new step after its own complaints process. The pilot covers state-funded schools inspected during the 2026/27 academic year. Some complaints already raised this term can also be considered, but only after Ofsted has completed its internal process and published the inspection report card.

The reviewer is meant to test the handling and outcome of a complaint, not merely whether the right steps were followed. It will receive the complaint, Ofsted's response and the original, unredacted evidence from the inspection. That access lets it examine whether the response was fair and reasonable, including where a complaint concerns a grade. It may recommend that Ofsted reconsiders.

That recommendation is not an appeal ruling. HMCI must consider and personally respond to each one. If a recommendation concerns grading, HMCI can set aside the published report card and arrange a fresh inspection. The reviewer itself cannot assign or alter grades; Ofsted says grading remains HMCI's decision, exercised through inspectors.

The distinction matters because an outside review can change the information available to a decision-maker without transferring the decision right. The pilot adds scrutiny and a route to ask Ofsted to revisit its work, while leaving the authority—and responsibility for the final answer—inside the inspectorate.

The existing Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted (ICASO) is narrower: it can review how a complaint was handled but does not assess whether the outcome was fair and reasonable or overturn inspection findings. Ofsted says it will monitor the pilot and seek feedback from complainants, unions and the Confederation of School Trusts. Its announcement does not decide whether the service will later cover other areas of Ofsted's work.

Several operating details remain open. The reviewing organisation must be a full Ombudsman Association member, but no provider is named and the arrangements are subject to contract. The Department for Education is managing the award. June board minutes show that risk, cost, scope, legal and communications questions were still part of the work before the launch announcement.

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