How we colour and rate schools

Since November 2025 there is no single Ofsted grade. We turn a school’s inspection into one map colour using the rule below — and show the full detail on every school page. This is our editorial choice, published openly so you can judge it.

The colour scale

Exceptional — each colour is paired with a shape (★) so it works without colour vision too.
Strong — each colour is paired with a shape (●) so it works without colour vision too.
Expected — each colour is paired with a shape (▲) so it works without colour vision too.
Needs attention — each colour is paired with a shape (!) so it works without colour vision too.
Urgent improvement — each colour is paired with a shape (✕) so it works without colour vision too.
No current rating — each colour is paired with a shape (–) so it works without colour vision too.

The three grade regimes

England has three coexisting Ofsted grade systems right now, and we show them differently:

New report cards (from Nov 2025) — graded on a five-point scale (Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement) across each of: Inclusion; Curriculum and teaching; Achievement; Attendance and behaviour; Personal development and wellbeing; Leadership and governance. These pins are shown solid.
Legacy grades (before Sept 2024) — the old Outstanding/Good/Requires improvement/Inadequate. We map these onto the scale for colour only and show them as a hollow ring, with the original word on the school page. Ofsted says old and new grades are not comparable, and we don’t pretend otherwise.
Inspected 2024–2025 — during this window Ofsted gave no overall grade, so we show no colour (grey) rather than invent one.

Turning several area grades into one colour

The base colour is the school’s most common area grade.
If any area is “Needs attention” or “Urgent improvement”, we add a “!” flag — a strong colour never hides a serious weakness.
If safeguarding is “Not met”, a red shield overrides everything. Safeguarding is never blended into the colour.

The pin is only a summary. The school page always shows every area grade, the safeguarding outcome, the inspection date, and a link to the full report on Ofsted’s website. If you think we’ve shown something wrong, every page has a “report incorrect data” link.