Ofsted’s 2019 Education Inspection Framework brought curriculum to the forefront of leaders’ minds, with its focus on the Quality of Education and the key principles of curriculum intent, implementation and impact. It was a welcome recognition of the importance of knowledge and the value of curriculum sequencing to build long-term learning.
In November 2025, a new Ofsted Inspection Framework was released. Schools are now provided with a report card which gives a judgement on six different areas:
- Inclusion
- Curriculum and teaching
- Achievement
- Attendance and behaviour
- Personal development and well-being
- Leadership and governance
Safeguarding is now a separate category which schools either meet or fail to meet, and, if applicable, inspectors will also grade early years and post-16 provision. Does the removal of the Quality of Education area mean that previous work done by schools on developing a knowledge-rich curriculum and the associated links with cognitive science should now be abandoned? We don’t believe so!
Read on to find out more about the implications of the new framework for:
1. Curriculum
Some educators feared that the removal of the ‘Quality of Education’ category and subject ‘deep dives’ might mean less emphasis on curriculum in the new framework. However, this is far from the truth.
Ofsted have maintained the language of curriculum ‘intent’ (having a high-quality, ambitious curriculum for all pupils) ‘implementation’ (delivering the curriculum effectively) and ‘impact’ (the progress that pupils make … so that they know more, remember more and are able to do more) in the new framework. However, in the new framework achievement (impact) is judged separately from curriculum and teaching (intent and implementation).
By keeping curriculum and teaching as one area, Ofsted recognises that there is a fundamental interconnection between these two concepts. Without a clearly sequenced and mapped curriculum, good teaching will fail to equip students with the knowledge they need to achieve and thrive in later life. Equally, without good teaching, students will be unable to embed key concepts, use knowledge fluently and develop their understanding.
In keeping with the 2019 Ofsted framework, within the new framework there is an expectation that the curriculum is clearly planned and sequenced so that knowledge and skills are built sequentially and cumulatively. However, there is much more explicit recognition that content needs to be revisited, as material will be forgotten over time. This is known as spaced practice and is based on research first carried out in the 19th century by Ebbinghaus. Spaced practice also features in Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction with Principle 10 emphasising the importance of weekly and monthly reviews.
A new addition to the framework is the importance of securing strong foundations for all students, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics. This is a welcome change, as we know from research that there is a clear correlation between students’ prior knowledge and their ability to learn new concepts. It is known as The Matthew Effect after the famous passage in the Bible which can be summarised as ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’.
2. Evidence-informed Teaching
The new Ofsted framework explicitly states that schools should take an evidence-informed approach to teaching and how students learn. We welcome this addition, as effective learning is often counterintuitive. For example, Retrieval Practice is one of the best bets for learning, and yet students feel that re-reading is more effective.
Taking an evidence-informed approach means taking into account key cognitive science principles such as the limitations of working memory, the importance of using strategies that transfer key knowledge to long-term memory and the value of Retrieval Practice.
However, as we discuss in our book Evidence-Informed Wisdom, research alone is not sufficient to develop evidence-informed practice; it needs to be combined with teacher experience and school context. Again, the new framework recognises this, stating that ‘inspectors take account of how they apply to different ages and stages of learning, and the needs of different groups of pupils’ and that leaders and teachers should ‘have a sophisticated understanding of the differences between subjects’.
3. Inclusion
Whilst the previous Ofsted framework recognised the importance of designing an ambitious curriculum that met the needs of all learners, particularly the disadvantaged and those with SEND, inclusion is explicitly referenced in the new framework.
Staff are now expected to know how to identify and remove barriers to achievement for their students through effective curriculum design, formative assessment and adapting their practice to meet student needs. Again, schools are explicitly encouraged to draw on the best available evidence, including high-quality research, to support those who may face barriers to their learning. Adaptive Teaching is a core component of inclusion. Rather than placing a ceiling on pupil achievement, Adaptive Teaching is about having high expectations for all and putting appropriate support and scaffolding in place for those that need it. Adaptive teaching relies on effective checks for understanding. Without this, teachers run the risk of making decisions based on assumptions or poor or inaccurate information; this is why we think that checking for understanding is the most important of Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction
4. Professional Development
Within the new framework, there is much more emphasis on professional development. Leaders are expected to have a ‘coherent professional learning programme for all staff that is rooted in a culture of purposeful collaboration, focuses on building collective expertise and enables expert teaching across all subjects and phases‘. This programme should ‘balance the priorities of whole-school improvement, subjects/teams/phases and individual needs’.
Within these statements is a recognition that there can be no ‘one size fits all’ approach to professional development and that professional development must be sustained over time rather than simply a ‘once and done’ beginning-of-term INSET.
The new Ofsted framework also states that professional learning must ‘draw on the best available evidence, including high-quality research and expert provision from beyond and within the school’.
Our Teacher CPD Academy is designed for exactly this purpose. We cover a wide range of topic areas, all of which are based on high-quality research. The key findings from the research are shared alongside implications for schools and colleges. However, we understand the importance of context when considering ideas from research, so we encourage discussion and collaboration to decide on the exact implementation in your specific setting, whether that be on a whole school, subject/phase or individual level. This flexibility and adaptability is a key component of the platform.
Final thoughts
The new Ofsted framework makes one thing very clear: curriculum intent alone is not enough. What inspectors are looking for (and what our analysis of over 400 inspection reports confirms) is that the gap between a school’s ambitions and its classroom reality is where ratings are won and lost. Evidence-informed teaching, adaptive practice, and genuinely embedded CPD are no longer nice-to-haves; they are the difference between Expected and Strong. The good news is that the research gives us a clear picture of what works. The tricky task, as it has always been, is translating that knowledge into consistent practice across every classroom, sustained over time. That is exactly what we are here to help with – get in touch at info@innerdrive.co.uk to discuss how we can help in your setting.
To read further about the new Ofsted Framework, check out our analysis of over 400 school reports. You can preview the first 9 pages below:
