Area SEND inspections: information about ongoing inspections

Area SEND inspections: for parents and carers

Area SEND inspection explained - information for parents and carers

Area SEND inspections: British Sign Language (BSL)

Information for parents and carers

Information for parents and carers about the area SEND inspection of your local area - YouTube

Information for children and young people

Information for children and young people about the area SEND inspection of your local area - YouTube

Area SEND inspections

Ofsted and CQC jointly inspect local area partnerships to see how well they work together to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The inspections are carried out in line with the area SEND inspection framework and handbook.

From January 2023, all local area partnerships will receive an inspection under the new area SEND framework. The area SEND inspections under the new framework will follow a continuous cycle of inspections. Local area partnerships are inspected at least once every 5 years.

Areas we will inspect

• Gloucestershire Local Area Partnership, 1 December 2023 to 15 December 2023. Take part in the Gloucestershire Local Area Partnership survey to give your views from 27 November 2023 to 9am on 5 December 2023.
• Bexley Local Area Partnership, 4 December 2023 to 8 December 2023. Take part in the Bexley Local Area Partnership survey to give your views from 20 November 2023 to 9am on 28 November 2023.
• West Sussex Local Area Partnership, 27 November 2023 to 1 December 2023. Survey now closed.

Inspection reports

Read our reports for area SEND inspections.

1. 27 November 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details for Gloucestershire Local Area Partnership.

2. 20 November 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details Bexley Local Area Partnership.

3. 14 November 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details West Sussex Local Area Partnership.

4. 7 November 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details for Kingston upon Hull Local Area Partnership and Halton Local Area Partnership.

5. 2 November 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details for Suffolk Local Area Partnership

6. 3 October 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details for Trafford Local Area Partnership.

7. 26 September 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details for Middlesbrough Local Area Partnership.

8. 19 September 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details for Richmond upon Thames Local Area Partnership.

9. 12 September 2023

   Added inspection dates and survey details for Surrey Local Area Partnership.

10. 3 July 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Oxfordshire County Council.

11. 27 June 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Hertfordshire County Council.

12. 21 June 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

13. 13 June 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Plymouth City Council and Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council.

14. 5 May 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council.

15. 2 May 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for the London Borough of Greenwich. We have also added a new video for parents and carers about area SEND inspections.

16. 28 April 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Rutland County Council.

17. 13 March 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Brighton and Hove City Council.

18. 6 March 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for the London Borough of Enfield and Telford and Wrekin Council.

19. 27 February 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Hartlepool Borough Council.

20. 21 February 2023

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Southend-on-Sea City Council.

21. 16 February 2023

    Updated with new guides for parents, carers, children and young people.

22. 23 November 2022

    Added revisit dates and survey details for Cumbria County Council.

23. 16 November 2022

    Added revisit dates and survey details for Norfolk and Somerset County Councils.

24. 8 November 2022

    Added revisit dates and survey details for Shropshire County Council.

25. 31 October 2022

    Added revisit dates and survey details for City of York Council and the Leicestershire County Council.

26. 4 October 2022

    Added revisit dates and survey details for Luton Borough Council and the London Borough of Merton.

27. 27 September 2022

    Added revisit dates and survey details for South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council.

28. 20 September 2022

    Added revisit dates and survey details for Bristol City Council.

29. 20 September 2022

    Added revisit dates and details of the webinars for Kent County Council, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

30. 27 June 2022

    Added re-visit dates and survey details for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.

31. 20 June 2022

    Added re-visit dates and survey details for Central Bedfordshire Council.

32. 14 June 2022

    Added re-visit dates and survey details for the London Borough of Wandsworth.

33. 7 June 2022

    Added revisit dates and survey details for Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council.

34. 9 May 2022

    Added revisit dates for Devon County Council.

35. 4 May 2022

    Added revisit dates for Essex County Council.

36. 22 April 2022

    Added revisit dates for Liverpool City Council.

37. 15 March 2022

    Minor correction to inspection dates for Council of the Isles of Scilly.

38. 15 March 2022

    Added inspection dates and survey details for the Council of the Isles of Scilly

39. 7 March 2022

    Added inspection dates and survey for Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and revisit dates and survey for North East Lincolnshire Council.

40. 1 March 2022

    Added inspection dates and survey for City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.

41. 28 February 2022

    Added inspection dates and survey for Buckinghamshire County Council.

42. 22 February 2022

    Added inspection dates and survey for London Borough of Hounslow.

43. 21 February 2022

    Added inspection dates and survey for Blackpool Borough Council.

44. 7 February 2022

    Added inspection dates and survey for Cheshire West and Cheshire Council, and revisit dates and survey for Sheffield City Council.

45. 1 February 2022

    Added dates and survey details for Kirklees Metropolitan Council.

46. 31 January 2022

    Added dates and survey details for Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

47. 19 January 2022

    Added inspection details for Darlington Borough Council and re-visit details for Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.

48. 10 January 2022

    Added inspection details for London Borough of Barnet and re-visit details for Peterborough City Council.

49. 5 January 2022

    Added dates and survey details for a re-visit of Staffordshire County Council.

50. 1 December 2021

    Added inspection dates and survey details for North Lincolnshire Council.

51. 30 November 2021

    Added dates and survey details for an inspection of London Borough of Newham and a re-visit of Thurrock Council.

52. 22 November 2021

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Bracknell Forest Borough Council.

53. 15 November 2021

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Manchester City Council.

54. 12 November 2021

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

55. 8 November 2021

    Added inspection dates and survey details for North Tyneside Council and Torbay Borough Council.

56. 2 November 2021

    Added inspection dates and survey details for Islington and Nottingham.

57. 19 October 2021

    Added revisit dates for Worcestershire County Council.

58. 14 October 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the survey for Tameside.

59. 4 October 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the survey for East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

60. 30 September 2021

    Added revisit dates and details of the survey for Swindon.

61. 27 September 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the survey for Croydon.

62. 20 September 2021

    Added dates and survey details for an upcoming inspection of Slough Borough Council and a re-visit of Derby City Council.

63. 20 September 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the survey for Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.

64. 15 September 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the survey for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

65. 13 September 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for Wolverhampton City Council.

66. 6 July 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for Warwickshire County Council.

67. 29 June 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

68. 29 June 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for London Borough of Haringey.

69. 21 June 2021

    Added inspection dates and webinar details for London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

70. 15 June 2021

    Added inspection dates and details of the webinar for Reading Borough Council.

71. 14 June 2021

    Added visit dates and webinar links for Sunderland City Council.

72. 7 June 2021

    Added visit dates and webinar links for Richmond Upon Thames.

73. 11 May 2021

    Added visit dates and webinar details for Birmingham City Council.

74. 10 May 2021

    Added visit dates and webinar details for Cheshire East Council.

75. 5 May 2021

    Added visit dates and webinar links for Northumberland County Council.

76. 5 May 2021

    Added visit dates and webinar links for North Somerset Council

77. 29 April 2021

    Added visit dates and webinar links for Wokingham Borough Council and Newcastle Upon Tyne.

78. 22 April 2021

    Added visit dates and webinar links for Leicester City Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.

79. 17 March 2020

    We've removed inspection visit information, as we are temporarily suspending all routine inspections of schools, further education, early years and social care providers.

80. 11 March 2020

    Added dates and links for Worcestershire County Council, Darlington Borough Council and Cheshire West and Chester County Council.

81. 2 March 2020

    Added dates and links for London Borough of Westminster and Somerset County Council.

82. 25 February 2020

    Added dates and links for Norfolk, Hampshire and Lancashire County Council's.

83. 17 February 2020

    Added dates and links for the London Borough of Sutton revisit.

84. 28 January 2020

    Added dates for Leicestershire County Council and South Gloucestershire Council.

85. 22 January 2020

    Added dates and links for Bedford Borough Council revisit and a visit to Shropshire Council.

86. 15 January 2020

    Added dates and links to gather views ahead of a visit to the London Borough of Lambeth and a revisit to Durham County Council.

87. 3 December 2019

    Added webinar dates and links for Medway Council, Salford City Council and York City Council.

88. 20 November 2019

    Added dates for Isle of White Council inspection and webinar link.

89. 15 November 2019

    Added webinar link for parents and carers to share feedback for Central Bedfordshire Council.

90. 8 November 2019

    The local area SEND inspection of the City of York will no longer take place Monday 11th November to Friday 15th November 2019. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission will announce the details of a revised inspection date in due course.

91. 4 November 2019

    Added dates for City of York Council visit and the link to the feedback survey.

92. 30 October 2019

    Added visit dates and webinar link for the London Borough of Wandsworth.

93. 8 October 2019

    Added dates and link for families to give feedback for Coventry City Council.

94. 4 October 2019

    Added the visit dates The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, Oxfordshire County Council and Kingston upon Hull. The feedback survey dates and links are also available for families and cares to give their views.

95. 24 September 2019

    Added dates and webinar link for Essex County Council.

96. 12 September 2019

    Added links to gather views ahead of a visit to the London Borough of Bromley and a revisit to Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council.

97. 25 June 2019

    Added dates and webinar links for Portsmouth City Council, London Borough of Harrow and Middlesbrough Borough Council.

98. 18 June 2019

    Added dates and webinar link for South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council.

99. 3 June 2019

    Added dates and webinar links for Merton and Peterborough.

100. 1 May 2019

     Added visit dates and webinar link for Bury Metropolitan Council.

101. 29 April 2019

     Added revisit dates for the London Borough of Brent.

102. 10 April 2019

     Added revisit dates for Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

103. 13 March 2019

     Added details of an inspection (Cumbria) and revisit (Waltham Forest).

104. 11 March 2019

     Added dates and webinar link for Bath and North East Somerset Council.

105. 4 March 2019

     Added inspection/revisit dates for Calderdale, Camden, Wokingham, Surrey and Sandwell.

106. 29 January 2019

     Added inspection dates and webinar details for Stockton-on-Tees and Walsall Borough Councils.

107. 21 January 2019

     Added inspection dates and webinar details for Kent County Council.

108. 14 January 2019

     Added inspection dates and webinar details for London Borough of Ealing.

109. 7 January 2019

     Added inspection dates and webinar details for Liverpool City Council.

110. 4 December 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinar details for Warrington Borough Council and Devon County Council.

111. 27 November 2018

     Added details of future inspections: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and Luton Borough Council.

112. 12 November 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinar details for Swindon Borough Council.

113. 5 November 2018

     Added inspection dates for Staffordshire County Council and Sheffield City Council

114. 1 October 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinar details for Milton Keynes.

115. 24 September 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinar details for Lincolnshire, Southend-on-Sea and Northumberland.

116. 25 June 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinars links for North East Lincolnshire

117. 18 June 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinars links for London Borough of Southwark and Birmingham City Council.

118. 11 June 2018

     Added date and webinar link for Wigan inspection.

119. 5 June 2018

     Added date and webinar link for Redbridge inspection.

120. 4 May 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinar link for West Berkshire.

121. 4 May 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinar link for North Somerset.

122. 23 April 2018

     Added details of upcoming inspection of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

123. 23 April 2018

     Added inspection dates and webinar for Leicester.

124. 5 March 2018

     Added inspection information and webinar for Cheshire East.

125. 5 March 2018

     Details of SEND inspection of City of London Corporation 12 to 16 March, and details of webinar on 9 March added.

126. 26 February 2018

     Added details of an upcoming local area SEND inspection for Worcestershire.

127. 20 February 2018

     Upcoming inspection of Redcar and Cleveland local area added.

128. 19 February 2018

     Upcoming inspection of London Borough of Havering added.

129. 19 February 2018

     Added details of an upcoming local area SEND inspection for West Sussex.

130. 9 June 2016

     First published.