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Ofsted does not require schools to maintain a written self-evaluation form, but almost every school does — because a well-maintained SEF is one of the most powerful tools a senior leader has for driving improvement and being inspection-ready at any time. The challenge is scale: the Ofsted framework spans many criteria across several areas, and keeping a thorough, up-to-date evaluation of each one — while also being able to zoom out to clear summaries for governors and staff — quickly becomes unmanageable in a word-processed document. The Ofsted SEF module gives you the structure to do all of this in one place, with the right level of detail at every layer of the framework.

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Structure of the SEF

Your SEF is organised into four layers, moving from context through to operational priorities:
1

Contextual Statements

The opening section of your SEF provides context for anyone reading it — including an Ofsted inspector. Here you record information about the school’s setting, intake, and any relevant circumstances, as well as a summary of your most recent inspection and your response to it. This sets the scene for all the evaluative sections that follow.
2

Criteria-Level Evaluation

The heart of the SEF. Each individual Ofsted criterion is listed, and against each one you record your school’s evaluation and the evidence that supports it. For schools aspiring to Outstanding, optional Outstanding descriptors are included so you can evaluate and evidence at that level too. Evidence links can be hyperlinked directly within the evaluation, keeping your document clean while supporting detailed referencing.
3

Area Summaries

For each major area of the Ofsted framework (for example, Quality of Education or Behaviour and Attitudes), you complete a single-page summary covering four key details:
  • Recent actions — what your school has done in this area.
  • Impact — the effect of those actions on pupils and staff.
  • Strengths — what your school does well in this area.
  • Priorities for further development — what you are working on next.
These summaries are ideal for sharing with governors, wider leadership teams, and all staff, giving a clear and accessible picture of where the school is and where it is heading.
4

Development Priorities

A dedicated section links your SEF to your wider school improvement planning. Here you record your high-level development priorities — and these are automatically echoed into the relevant framework areas of the SEF so that your improvement plan and self-evaluation remain aligned.

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Key Features

  • Detailed criteria-level evaluation — every Ofsted criterion is pre-structured, with space for your evaluation, supporting evidence, and optional Outstanding-level descriptors.
  • Four-part area summaries — recent actions, impact, strengths, and development priorities for each framework area, all on a single page.
  • Contextual and inspection history sections — set your school in context and record progress against your previous inspection report.
  • Development plan integration — high-level priorities from your Development Plan are echoed into the relevant SEF areas, keeping your improvement work and self-evaluation joined up.
  • Governor- and staff-ready summaries — the area summaries are designed to be shared widely without requiring readers to navigate the full criteria-level detail.
The SEF integrates with your Development Planning module — priorities recorded there are automatically echoed into the relevant Ofsted SEF areas, so you never have to maintain the same information in two places.

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Get Started

Getting Started

Set up your Ofsted SEF — add your school context, begin criterion-level evaluations, and write your first area summary.