GovWire

Accreditation visits to online providers handbook

Updated wording added to the Quality assurance section

[Inspectors will uphold the highest professional standards in their work. They will treat everyone they meet during visits fairly and with the respect and sensitivity they deserve. Inspectors will work constructively with leaders and staff, demonstrating professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect at all times.] The lead inspector must ensure that accreditation visits are carried out in accordance with Ofstedscode of conduct.

Updated wording added to the Overview section

The purpose of an accreditation visit is to assess whether the provider meets the standards for online education. This assessment allows the DfE to decide whether or not to accredit a provider. Inspectors will not make graded judgements (such as good or outstanding) during an accreditation visit.

[The focus of an accreditation visit is on provision for children rather than the specific individuals that work in a provider. However we will look at how individuals within settings are able to work, or work together, to meet the online education standards and ensure that all children are receiving a high quality education.]

New [Involving leaders and governance in visits] section

[At the heart of our accreditation visits is a professional dialogue between inspectors and leaders, and so the lead inspector will agree a process for keeping leaders informed of progress throughout the visit.

This will normally mean regular meetings with the person responsible for day-to-day leadership and management of the provider at the start, middle and end of each day, to allow them to raise any issues or concerns or to seek clarification, including related to the conduct of the visit or of individual inspectors.

The lead inspector will invite the person responsible for day-to-day leadership and management of the provider to observe the inspectors team meeting at the end of the first day of an accreditation visit. At least one other member of staff may attend the meeting to support them. This should typically be someone who deputises for them who can understand and discuss the educational content of the meeting with the person responsible for day-to-day leadership and management of the provider. Additional members of staff may attend at the discretion of the lead inspector, but attendees should be few in number to allow for a productive conversation in the time available. The lead inspector will make clear that attendance at the meeting is optional, and that they may leave at any point if they wish.

If they choose to attend the meeting, leaders will observe inspectors bringing the evidence together. This will help leaders to decide what they want to draw inspectors attention to, clarify any matters of fact and contribute to the construction of the day 2 timetable.

Where accreditation visits are led by a single inspector, the lead inspector will have a short discussion with the person in charge of leadership and management of the provider to set out the emerging and final findings.]

Updated wording added to the Providing feedback section

An accreditation visit will end with a feedback meeting. This may be attended by the proprietor or proprietor body (including as many members as are available); the person responsible for day-to-day leadership and management; members of a governing board (where a provider has one); and other senior leaders.

[The lead inspector may agree that other leaders can attend. If the feedback is likely to be challenging or is likely to raise difficult issues, the lead inspector will be sensitive to any implications arising from this feedback and will therefore discuss with the person responsible for day-to-day leadership and management of the provider which other people may attend to ensure the necessary support for leaders.

Attendance at the feedback meeting is voluntary and any attendee may leave at any time, including leaving for a short time and then returning.]

During this meeting, the inspector will set out:

• which standards the provider has met and which (if any) it has failed to meet, and why

• that the DfE is the accrediting body and will ultimately decide whether the provider is awarded accreditation after Ofsteds final report is published

• any recommendations for improvement

• that the inspectors assessment of which standards the provider has met and which it has failed to meet are provisional, and so may change as a result of quality assurance procedures or moderation, and must, therefore, be treated as restricted and confidential to the relevant senior staff (as determined by the provider). Information about the outcomes of the visit should be shared more widely only when the provider receives a copy of the final report

• that the main findings of the visit and the main points provided orally in the feedback meeting, subject to any change, will be referred to in the text of the report, although the text of the report may differ slightly from the oral feedback

• the next steps following the visit, including moderation, quality assurance and the publication of the report

• that the person in day-to-day charge of the provider or the proprietor is invited and encouraged to complete the post-inspection survey

• the procedure for making a complaint about the visit

[The inspector will also set out that the outcomes of the visit should not be made public or shared with parents until a final report has been published.

Leaders may also share visit outcomes, in confidence, with others who are not involved with the provider. This may include leaders colleagues, family members, medical advisers and/or their wider support group.]

Updated wording added to the Deferrals section

If the provider asks us to defer the accreditation visit, we will consider this request on its merits, referring to the principles set out in our deferral policy.

[An online provider may make a request during the initial notification phone call, or at the earliest opportunity afterwards before the start of the visit. We will not normally consider requests for deferral if we receive them after 4.30pm on the day the provider is notified.]

Generally speaking, we will only defer an accreditation visit in exceptional circumstances of the kind set out in our deferral policy (see circumstances for deferring Ofsted inspections and visits). The examples given there do not provide automatic grounds for a deferral and are not exhaustive. We must consider each case separately and on its own merits.

Providers should note that, since they only need to have 1 full-time pupil of compulsory school age in England to be eligible for the scheme, we are unlikely to defer a visit on the grounds that the provider is educating very few pupils at the time of the visit.

If we refuse the deferral request and the provider decides to withhold its consent for the visit to take place on the dates proposed, we will treat the application for accreditation as withdrawn and will notify the DfE. If we need to treat the application as withdrawn in these circumstances, we will not refund any payments made by the provider.

Updated wording added to the Notice of an accreditation visit section

The lead inspector will usually contact the provider by telephone 1 day before the accreditation visit. The inspector will ask to speak to the person in charge of the provider day to day. If this person is not available, the inspector will ask to speak to the proprietor or the most senior member of staff available.

During the phone call, the lead inspector will:

• introduce themselves and any other members of the team that will carry out the visit

• explain the purpose and format of the visit

• explain the expectations set out in Ofsteds code of conduct and ask leaders to read it

• arrange meetings with senior leaders, curriculum leaders, proprietors, parents and pupils

• discuss how inspectors can access online learning activities

• confirm information about the provider and its pupils

• give the provider an opportunity to ask any questions

[This is an opportunity for the provider to update the lead inspector on any changes to the providers operations, policies or context. We understand that there is a great deal of information to be discussed at this stage of the visit. For this reason, it may be helpful to discuss these elements in two or more separate conversations with a break in between, involving other members of senior staff if this is helpful. The lead inspector will discuss what will work best for the provider.]

Updated wording added to the The start of the visit section

Once they are on site, inspectors will provide identification and will hold an initial meeting with the person r

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