Ofsted’s renewed inspection framework has now been in use for nearly a year. One of the biggest changes for SENCos and school leaders is that inclusion is an evaluation area in its own right, and identifying pupils’ needs sits right at its heart.

This article sums up what the framework says about identification, what else inspectors look for, and the debate about how it’s working in practice.

Last checked: 4 October 2026.

The framework in brief

Ofsted announced the changes on 9 September 2025 and began using them on inspections from 10 November 2025. Schools now receive report cards graded on a five-point scale: urgent improvement, needs attention, expected, strong and exceptional.

The current version of the school inspection toolkit is version 2.0 (June 2026), used on inspections from 7 September 2026.

Inclusion as its own area

The inclusion evaluation area covers disadvantaged pupils, pupils with SEND (both SEN support and EHCPs), children known to social care, and other groups.

What the toolkit says about identification

Three points stand out:

• At the “expected” standard, leaders “identify pupils’ emerging or changing needs quickly and accurately”.

• Leaders are expected to embed a culture where “early and accurate assessment of pupils’ needs is prioritised”.

• Ineffective identification can contribute to a grade of “urgent improvement”.

In other words, it isn’t enough to support the pupils you already know about. Inspectors will want to see how a school finds the pupils it doesn’t yet know about, and how it notices when a pupil’s needs change.

What else inspectors look for

The toolkit also expects:

• a qualified SENCo with leadership standing in the school

• an accurate SEN information report

• the graduated approach in practice: assess, plan, do, review

• systematic monitoring of pupils’ progress

• use of external specialists where they’re needed

The debate so far

The framework has been closely watched, and the early evidence is mixed.

• A Tes analysis of 877 reports found that 89% were graded expected or above for inclusion.

• An NAHT analysis, reported by Schools Week, found that schools with above-average proportions of pupils with SEND were downgraded more often. That raises a fair question about whether the most inclusive schools are being treated fairly.

• In a September 2026 letter to the school leaders’ union ASCL, Education Secretary Lucy Powell said she wanted to “move from a high-stakes and low-trust system to one that is more supportive”. She was describing the accountability system as a whole, of which Ofsted is a core part. No changes to the inspection framework have been announced.

We’ll update this article if that changes.

Questions to ask yourself

Whatever happens to the framework, early and accurate identification is good practice in its own right. Some questions that may help you prepare:

• How do we find needs we don’t yet know about? If identification relies mainly on teacher concern or parent requests, which pupils might be missed?

• How quickly do we notice change? What happens when a pupil’s needs emerge in Year 5, or after the move to secondary school?

• How accurate is our picture? Can we tell the difference between, for example, a reading difficulty and a language barrier for a pupil with English as an additional language?

• Is our evidence consistent? Would two members of staff looking at the same pupil reach the same view?

• Does identification lead to action? Can we show the link from assess to plan, do and review, and when we brought in a specialist?

• Does our SEN information report match reality?

Where screening can help

The toolkit doesn’t mention screening, or any particular identification tool, and no tool replaces professional judgement. But screening can help with several of the questions above. Screening a whole class or year group gives every pupil the same check and a consistent baseline across classes and schools, and screening an individual pupil when a concern comes up gives you a standardised starting point for the conversation. Either way, it helps staff decide where to look more closely and when to involve a specialist.

Talamo’s assessments are screening tools, not diagnostic assessments. They’re designed to sit alongside classroom knowledge, attainment data and, where appropriate, specialist assessment. You can read more in our guide to the role of screening, and when to bring in a specialist.

See what a Talamo report looks like →