Free for the sector

The FE & Skills sector under Ofsted's new toolkit (from Nov 2025)

A plain-English view of every graded inspection published since the Nov 2025 FE & Skills Inspection Toolkit went live. Updates the moment we ingest the latest monthly release from Ofsted - no sign-in needed.

269 inspections in scope269 with a published gradeCoverage: Nov 2025 → 30 June 2026

Section 01

How is the FE & Skills sector doing right now?

Every graded inspection published under the Nov 2025 toolkit, pooled together so you can see what 'normal' looks like across the sector.

Graded inspections

269

Since the Nov 2025 toolkit. 0 additional inspections published without grades.

% Expected and above

87%

Across all graded theme and provision cells - the sector-wide effectiveness picture.

% Safeguarding Met

100%

Of the 269 inspections where safeguarding was graded.

Combined effectiveness grade mix

All graded theme and provision cells, pooled across every inspection in scope.

Exceptional 1%Strong 20%Expected 66%Needs attention 13%Urgent improvement 0%

939 graded cells in scope87% at Expected+

Safeguarding standards

Whether safeguarding standards were Met or Not met at the inspection.

Met 100%

269 graded cells in scope100% at Expected+

Section 02

Who's leading, who's lagging

Ranked by share of theme grades at Expected or above. Bracketed numbers show how many graded cells back each row - small samples are honest, not hidden.

By provider type

% of graded theme cells at Expected, Strong or Exceptional. (count of graded cells in brackets)

By Ofsted region

% of graded theme cells at Expected, Strong or Exceptional. (count of graded cells in brackets)

Recent Exceptional & Strong inspections

Last 20 providers to land an Exceptional or Strong grade on any cross-cutting theme.

Craven College
General further education colleges - Yorkshire and The Humber
Strong5 Dec 2026
Sporting Futures Training (UK) Ltd
Independent learning providers - East of England
Strong5 Dec 2026
CMS Vocational Training Ltd.
Independent learning providers - Yorkshire and The Humber
Strong3 Oct 2026
Newcastle upon Tyne City Council
Local authority providers - North East
Strong3 Oct 2026
Complete Skills Solutions Limited
Independent learning providers - North West
Strong3 Oct 2026
iungo Solutions Limited
Independent learning providers - South West
Strong3 Oct 2026
Heart of Worcestershire College
General further education colleges - West Midlands
Strong3 Oct 2026
Technical Professionals Limited
Independent learning providers - North West
Strong2 Oct 2026
New College Doncaster
16 to 19 academies - Yorkshire and The Humber
Strong5 Jun 2026
Future Horizons Leeds Ltd
Independent specialist colleges - Yorkshire and The Humber
Strong5 Jun 2026
Portsmouth City Council
Local authority providers - South East
Strong19 May 2026
LINK19 College
Independent specialist colleges - South East
Strong5 May 2026
KLM UK Engineering Limited
Independent learning providers - East of England
Strong28 Apr 2026
Myerscough College
Specialist further education colleges - North West
Strong21 Apr 2026
Reigate College
16 to 19 academies - South East
Strong21 Apr 2026
Chadsgrove Educational Trust Specialist College
Independent specialist colleges - West Midlands
Strong21 Apr 2026
Humber Learning Consortium
Independent learning providers - Yorkshire and The Humber
Strong21 Apr 2026
Kleek Apprenticeships Limited
Independent learning providers - North East
Strong21 Apr 2026
CAPA College
16 to 19 academies - Yorkshire and The Humber
Exceptional21 Apr 2026
Cambridge Maths School
16 to 19 academies - East of England
Exceptional20 Apr 2026

Section 03

By provision and theme

The same dataset cut by what providers actually deliver - each card aggregates only inspections that carried a grade for that provision.

Young people (16-19)

39 inspections graded on this provision.

Curriculum, teaching & training82% Expected+

Exceptional 5%Strong 21%Expected 56%Needs attention 18%

Achievement72% Expected+

Exceptional 8%Strong 18%Expected 46%Needs attention 28%

Participation & development72% Expected+

Exceptional 5%Strong 18%Expected 49%Needs attention 28%

Adult learning

112 inspections graded on this provision.

Curriculum, teaching & training94% Expected+

Strong 19%Expected 75%Needs attention 6%

Achievement89% Expected+

Exceptional 1%Strong 26%Expected 63%Needs attention 10%Urgent improvement 1%

Participation & development86% Expected+

Strong 13%Expected 72%Needs attention 14%

Apprenticeships

190 inspections graded on this provision.

Curriculum, teaching & training89% Expected+

Strong 24%Expected 65%Needs attention 11%

Achievement88% Expected+

Strong 24%Expected 64%Needs attention 9%Urgent improvement 3%

Participation & development89% Expected+

Strong 14%Expected 75%Needs attention 11%

High needs

43 inspections graded on this provision.

Curriculum, teaching & training86% Expected+

Strong 16%Expected 70%Needs attention 14%

Achievement88% Expected+

Strong 16%Expected 72%Needs attention 12%

Participation & development91% Expected+

Strong 33%Expected 58%Needs attention 9%

Leadership & governance

84%

at Expected or above

Exceptional 1%Strong 13%Expected 71%Needs attention 15%Urgent improvement 1%

Inclusion

86%

at Expected or above

Exceptional 1%Strong 24%Expected 61%Needs attention 14%

Contribution to meeting skills needs

88%

at Expected or above

Strong 35%Expected 53%Needs attention 12%

Section 04

Want to go deeper?

Filter, compare, and benchmark against your own provider in the full Sector Insights tool.

Want to compare yourself against the sector?

Subscribers get the full Sector Insights tool: filter by region, dimension, provider type and date range; pick multiple themes at once; and benchmark every grade against your own provider with a single click.

Open Sector Insights See platform pricing

About this data

Source: Ofsted's monthly Management Information release for further education and skills inspections, ingested and aggregated by QualityHero. We include every graded full or short inspection published from Nov 2025 onwards (the start of the new FE & Skills Inspection Toolkit). Monitoring visits (MV) and new-provider monitoring visits (NPMV) are excluded because they don't issue grades.

Latest publication date in this view: Ingested 6 Oct 2026 covering inspections up to 30th June 2026. Data refreshes automatically the moment we ingest a new monthly release directly from Ofsted's dataset.