How to read a six-area report card

A report card is read area by area, not as a single verdict. There is no overall grade to fall back on, and no average: the areas are reported independently and are meant to be read that way.

Six areas appear on every report card. Inclusion covers how well the school serves pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and those at risk of exclusion. Curriculum and teaching covers what is taught and how well. Achievement covers what pupils actually know and can do, including outcomes. Attendance and behaviour covers absence, persistent absence and conduct. Personal development and well-being covers pastoral provision, enrichment and mental health support. Leadership and governance covers the leadership team, the governing body and, for an academy, the trust above it.

Two further areas appear only where they apply, which is a detail often missed: Early years for schools with a nursery or reception provision, and Post-16 provision for schools with a sixth form. So a large secondary with a sixth form can carry eight judgements while a junior school carries six. When you compare two schools, check you are comparing the same areas.

The scale runs exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention, urgent improvement. "Expected standard" is the anchor and means the school is doing what it should — it is not a criticism, and reading it as a near-miss is the most common mistake people make with this framework. "Needs attention" is the first genuinely negative point.

Safeguarding is recorded separately as met or not met, and it does not sit on the five-point scale. A school can be strong across every area and still record safeguarding as not met, which triggers its own consequences. Never fold safeguarding into an overall impression of the school.

For anyone selling into schools, the area-level detail is the whole point. A school with attendance and behaviour marked needs attention has a different problem, a different budget line and often a different decision-maker from one flagged on inclusion or on curriculum and teaching. The old single word told you a school might be receptive; the report card tells you what to lead with.

One caution on freshness. Report cards only exist for schools inspected since 10 November 2025, and Ofsted publishes this data as a monthly file rather than a live feed, so any product built on it — including this one — is monthly rather than daily. Always check the inspection date before acting on an area judgement.