Ofsted leadership and governance: what inspectors look for and who they meet

Reviewed by Ben Parnell, former headteacher and trust chief executive. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.

Leadership and governance is one of the six evaluation areas graded on every full inspection of a state-funded school under the report card framework in use from September 2026. It asks whether leaders and those responsible for governance collectively make sure the school's provision "enables every pupil to thrive", and how committed they are to raising standards, especially for disadvantaged pupils, pupils with SEND, those known (or previously known) to children's social care, and those facing other barriers. It also matters beyond its own grade, because it is the area Ofsted uses to decide whether leaders have the capacity to improve the school. This guide sets out what the toolkit asks, who inspectors will meet, and what leaders and governors should be ready to show.

What does the leadership and governance area cover?

The toolkit gathers evidence under five headings: strategic leadership, governance, staff wellbeing and workload, professional learning and expertise, and parental, professional and community engagement. It is graded on the same five-point scale as the other evaluation areas, from exceptional through strong standard, expected standard and needs attention to urgent improvement.

Under strategic leadership, inspectors consider whether leaders act in pupils' best interests, set a clear and ambitious vision, identify the right priorities, use resources (including digital technology) well, and meet their statutory and non-statutory duties. One concrete check sits in this list: that the school week meets the DfE's minimum expectation of 32.5 hours, where applicable.

The toolkit also recognises that in small schools, nursery schools, the primary phase and specialist settings, leaders may hold several roles and the team may be small. In all schools, inspectors work with leaders to find out how responsibilities are delegated, so they speak to the right people.

What do inspectors want from governors and trustees?

The governance strand asks whether governors or trustees:

know their statutory duties and carry them out effectively
support and challenge leaders, using the best methods to assure themselves of the quality and impact of the school's work
understand their role, as the responsible body where applicable, in considering leaders' workload and wellbeing
assure themselves that leaders understand the school's context and are prioritising the actions with the greatest impact
make sure monitoring and quality assurance are fair, valid and constructive
hold leaders to account for the professional learning programme and for provision for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND

At the expected standard, governors or trustees make sure the vision, ethos and strategic direction are clearly defined and resources are used effectively, and they "typically support and challenge leaders appropriately, giving due regard to leaders' and staff wellbeing and workload". Needs attention includes governors who understand their broad role but do not typically support or challenge well, or whose assurance does not give them a precise picture of leaders' impact.

Attendance is a good test. The DfE's Working together to improve school attendance guidance expects trust boards and governing bodies to review attendance data regularly at board meetings, including trends and benchmarking, and to pay particular attention to groups with historically poor attendance. The attendance and behaviour guide covers what inspectors look for there.

Who will inspectors meet, and how do governance meetings work?

Inspectors must meet those responsible for governance, on a call if necessary. The school must make governing body minutes (maintained schools) or trust board minutes (academies) available by 8am on day one, alongside anything setting out improvement priorities and reports from any external evaluation.

In a maintained school, inspectors meet the governing body. If an interim executive board is in place, they establish how its members are taking responsibility for governance. In a federation, they evaluate how the arrangement affects the individual school.

In an academy, the rules are more specific. Inspectors must:

meet the CEO, or their delegate, and anyone else from the trust agreed with the headteacher and CEO
have at least one meeting with the chair of the board of trustees (or their delegate) and as many trustees as are available, covering oversight of areas such as safeguarding, behaviour and curriculum
hold at least part of that meeting without the CEO present, even where the CEO is a trustee, though context can justify an exception
record in the report card if no trustees were available

Where a multi-academy trust has local governing bodies, inspectors establish who holds overall responsibility and whether the trust has delegated anything to them. The operating guide notes that where an LGB's powers are delegated from trust leaders, that makes it part of the school's management, not its governance, and that if an LGB holds no responsibility relevant to the toolkit, inspectors do not need to speak with it. Inspectors may also meet a trust's governance professional where that helps clarify the structure. The governor questions guide and trust leaders guide go into these meetings in more detail.

Trust leaders are involved throughout the inspection. Inspectors should always invite the headteacher, the CEO or their delegate, and the nominee (if there is one) to reflection meetings. Where trust-wide policies apply, inspectors focus only on their impact on the academy being inspected. At the final feedback meeting, the chair and as many governors or trustees as are available may attend, with the clerk taking notes, and a local authority representative is always invited for a maintained school.

How are staff workload and wellbeing judged?

The toolkit asks whether leaders take account of staff wellbeing and keep workload manageable without creating unnecessary burdens, whether there are effective systems to protect staff from bullying, unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and whether staff feel valued and supported. It also places a duty upwards: one of the area's core factors is "the responsible body taking into account the workload and wellbeing of leaders and, in turn, leaders taking into account the workload and wellbeing of their staff".

Inspectors hear from staff directly. They analyse the anonymous responses to the staff questionnaire, identify themes, and meet staff best placed to discuss them. Staff can be accompanied by a colleague, and are not expected to bring documents.

Two urgent improvement indicators apply here: "Staff workload is unsustainable", and the responsible body being unclear about its statutory duties on leaders' wellbeing or not supporting leaders appropriately. For leaders themselves, the planning call includes a check on the headteacher's wellbeing and who is responsible for it day to day (usually the local authority or the trust), and inspectors point leaders to the charity Education Support.

Ofsted's own guidance also limits inspection workload. Schools do not need written evidence for each toolkit standard, a formal self-evaluation, a presentation, or documents made for inspection.

What does professional learning have to show?

At the expected standard, the professional learning programme is evidence-informed, high quality and designed to build expertise, with planned opportunities to apply and embed practice, including for ECTs and trainees where relevant, and leaders protect time for it. The toolkit lists what collaboration should cover, from curriculum, teaching and assessment through to adaptations for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. Needs attention describes a programme that is broad but "overly generic or insufficiently targeted".

Inspectors do not evaluate the quality of external support a school has received. They look at the action the school took and its impact.

Why is this area linked to categories of concern?

The operating guide uses a two-step test. An acceptable standard of education means every evaluation area except leadership and governance is graded at least needs attention, with safeguarding met. Failing to demonstrate capacity to improve means one or more of the leadership capacity indicators under urgent improvement in leadership and governance applies. Those indicators include leaders not identifying the right issues or acting in time, having no track record of improvement, depending too much on external support (support from within the school's own trust does not count as external), and governors or trustees not carrying out their statutory core functions.

Other findings feed directly into this area. The operating guide says off-rolling will likely lead to urgent improvement for leadership and governance, as will reasonable belief that attendance is being recorded inaccurately or registration times changed to game rates. A justified part-time timetable with no clear plan to return to full time is also taken into account here. The report card grades guide explains how grades combine.

What should leaders and governors be ready to show?

Leaders should be able to explain their priorities, why they chose them, and what has changed as a result. In the planning call, inspectors ask where leaders believe the school sits on the grading scale for each area.

Governors and trustees should be ready to:

Explain how they know what they know about the school, beyond what the headteacher tells them.
Give an example of challenge that changed a decision, and point to where it is minuted.
Describe how they consider the headteacher's workload and wellbeing.
Talk about disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND with the same confidence as headline results.
Say clearly who is responsible for what under the scheme of delegation.

The inspection preparation guide and self-evaluation guide cover the wider picture.

Where InspectReady fits in

InspectReady works from your own evidence to produce a pre-inspection report across the evaluation areas, and role-specific rehearsal questions for senior leaders and governors. If that would help your board prepare, email hello@inspectready.education.

Frequently asked questions

Will inspectors always meet governors or trustees? Yes. Inspectors must meet those responsible for governance, by phone or video if necessary. In an academy they must meet the chair of trustees or their delegate, and record in the report card if no trustees were available.

Can the CEO sit in on the trustee meeting? At least part of the meeting should take place without the CEO, including where the CEO is a trustee. The operating guide allows inspectors to consider the trust's context, and in some circumstances it may be appropriate for the CEO to be present.

Do inspectors meet our local governing body? Only where it holds responsibilities relevant to the toolkit. Inspectors establish what the trust has delegated, and if the LGB is purely advisory with no relevant responsibilities, they do not need to speak with it.

How does Ofsted judge staff workload? Through evidence that includes the anonymous staff questionnaire and meetings with staff. The toolkit expects leaders to keep workload manageable and avoid unnecessary burdens, and an unsustainable workload is an urgent improvement indicator.

Does trust support count against us as reliance on external support? No. The toolkit states that support from within the school's trust is not considered external support when judging whether leaders depend too much on it.

Do we need a written self-evaluation for this area? No. Ofsted says leaders will not be at a disadvantage without one. Inspectors will ask for your view of strengths and priorities during the planning call.

Sources

State-funded school inspection toolkit, Ofsted, for use from 7 September 2026: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a915d1c01bbff0bf8f97b51/Schools_inspection_toolkit.pdf
School inspection operating guide for inspectors: for use from September 2026, GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-toolkit-operating-guide-and-information/school-inspection-operating-guide-for-inspectors-for-use-from-september-2026
Inspection information for state-funded schools: for use from September 2026, GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-toolkit-operating-guide-and-information/inspection-information-for-state-funded-schools-for-use-from-september-2026
Working together to improve school attendance, DfE, July 2026: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance

Questions school leaders ask

Will inspectors always meet governors or trustees?: Yes. Inspectors must meet those responsible for governance, by phone or video if necessary. In an academy they must meet the chair of trustees or their delegate, and record in the report card if no trustees were available.
Can the CEO sit in on the trustee meeting?: At least part of the meeting should take place without the CEO, including where the CEO is a trustee. The operating guide allows inspectors to consider the trust's context, and in some circumstances it may be appropriate for the CEO to be present.
Do inspectors meet our local governing body?: Only where it holds responsibilities relevant to the toolkit. Inspectors establish what the trust has delegated, and if the LGB is purely advisory with no relevant responsibilities, they do not need to speak with it.
How does Ofsted judge staff workload?: Through evidence that includes the anonymous staff questionnaire and meetings with staff. The toolkit expects leaders to keep workload manageable and avoid unnecessary burdens, and an unsustainable workload is an urgent improvement indicator.
Does trust support count against us as reliance on external support?: No. The toolkit states that support from within the school's trust is not considered external support when judging whether leaders depend too much on it.
Do we need a written self-evaluation for this area?: No. Ofsted says leaders will not be at a disadvantage without one. Inspectors will ask for your view of strengths and priorities during the planning call.