Ofsted has once again raised a raft of concerns about how British Schools Overseas (BSO) inspections are being conducted by Penta, one of the three inspectorates licensed to issue the BSO accreditation by the Department for Education.<\/p>\n
An Ofsted report published today<\/a> states that it believes Penta \u201ccontinues to fail to meet the standards required of BSO inspectorates\u201d and, despite some improvements since January 2026, \u201cexpert external support\u201d is needed to ensure further improvements.<\/p>\n This follows on from a report issued by Ofsted in March 2025<\/a> that raised \u201csignificant concerns\u201d with inspections, including around safeguarding and \u201cgrades [that] appear overly generous\u201d.<\/p>\n The BSO is the only government-approved accreditation scheme for international schools and the accreditation carries several benefits, including the ability to deliver the early career teacher induction programme.<\/p>\n Ofsted concerns about Penta inspections<\/p>\n The findings in the latest report are based on two rounds of inspections by Ofsted of Penta\u2019s work, the first of which was in August 2025, when the watchdog analysed four \u201cevidence bases and report\u201d.<\/p>\n Ofsted says evidence from these inspections left its inspectors with many of the same concerns that were in its previous report, including:<\/p>\n Ofsted notes that since then Penta has introduced a new inspection framework in January 2026, and that, based on evidence gathered by monitoring in-school inspections conducted by Penta inspectors, some improvements have been seen.<\/p>\n These include \u201ca more rigorous approach to collecting and evaluating evidence\u201d against the BSO standards. Ofsted says \u201cgathering evidence about safeguarding has strengthened\u201d, too.<\/p>\n It also says Penta inspectors \u201cevaluated provision for pupils with SEND well\u201d and \u201csupporting documents and guidance have been developed to try to ensure more consistency across inspections\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018Very little training\u2019 for inspectors<\/p>\n Despite this, Ofsted outlines a raft of concerns that remain, including the lack of any pilot scheme for the new inspection framework and \u201cvery little communication with schools about the changes introduced\u201d.<\/p>\n It also notes there has been \u201cvery little training for inspectors\u201d, which has led to \u201cinconsistency across inspections and a lack of clarity among inspection teams about how to apply the new framework\u201d.<\/p>\n This has also led to a lack of any \u201cclear, systematic programme of training\u201d to ensure that the revised approaches are \u201cembedded across Penta\u2019s inspection schedule\u201d. Ofsted warns that inspectors are \u201cconfused\u201d about how to use the new inspection recording system.<\/p>\n Ofsted also reports that it does not believe Penta \u201censures that inspectors fulfil the expectations of the DfE in terms of the experience they should have\u201d.<\/p>\n Given this, Ofsted\u2019s report says it remains unconvinced by the organisation\u2019s ability to deliver the necessary improvements itself and should \u201cseek expert external support to help them with their ongoing improvements to their inspections of BSO schools\u201d.<\/p>\n Sector response<\/p>\n During the period of the work referred to by Ofsted, 78 BSO inspections were conducted across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Many of these will have taken place after the initial first report outlining concerns in March 2025.<\/p>\n Tes asked the DfE for comment on the latest report, including on whether BSO inspection judgements issued during this time remained valid despite the concerns raised and if Penta will continue to be able to offer inspections until the improvements Ofsted has called for are made.<\/p>\n No reply had been received at the time of publication.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in response to Ofsted\u2019s findings, Penta said it recognised the \u201cneed to further strengthen consistency, training and quality assurance across our inspections\u201d and said it had made several changes to work towards this.<\/p>\n \u201cThis includes the recent appointment of a new chief inspector to address the identified issues, as well as bringing on board other experienced inspectors,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThis includes a full review of inspector experience, the introduction of a structured training and authorisation programme, strengthened quality assurance arrangements and independent external support.\u201d<\/p>\n The Penta report was published alongside monitoring reports for the two other inspectorates that can issue BSO inspections, the Independent Schools Inspectorate<\/a> (ISI) and the Education Development Trust<\/a> (EDT),<\/a> both of which were found to meet \u201cthe standards required of BSO inspectorates in full\u201d.<\/p>\n Ofsted does outline some areas of improvement for EDT, though, including a need to \u201cdevelop inspectors\u2019 confidence in evaluating evidence related to provision for pupils with SEND\u201d and ensuring that the voice of students is \u201cmore prominent in inspection activity\u201d.<\/p>\n It also says there can be \u201cinconsistency in the way that evidence is gathered and recorded, including in relation to a school\u2019s arrangements for welfare, health and safety\u201d, and so a greater focus is needed on ensuring that all inspectors \u201cevaluate this evidence in line with the inspectorate\u2019s expectations\u201d.<\/p>\n\n