Ofsted SEND Monitoring Inspection – September 2025

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will be carrying out a SEND Monitoring Inspection in Oxfordshire between 15 September and 1 October 2025.

Inspectors will be looking at progress against the five Priority Action Areas set after the last inspection, focusing on:

How children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and their families, are listened to and their views acted upon.
How services communicate and work together.
The timeliness and quality of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
How services are commissioned to meet needs.
How plans are co-produced and monitored with families and young people.

About the inspection

Why now? Oxfordshire’s SEND services were inspected in 2023 and judged to have serious weaknesses. A Priority Action Plan was approved in December 2023, and inspectors are now checking progress.

What’s the focus? Inspectors want to know whether things have improved for children and young people and their families, including how services listen, communicate, work together, issue and quality-check EHCPs, commission services, and co-produce plans.

Who’s involved? Inspectors will meet children and young people, parents, schools, and professionals across education, health, and children’s social care. They will also review a sample of EHCPs in detail.

What’s the goal? To see if changes are making a real difference to the lives of children and young people with SEND in Oxfordshire.

OxPCF’s role

Oxfordshire Parent Carer Forum (OxPCF) will have the opportunity to meet directly with inspectors to share:

Feedback gathered through our Summer Parent Carer Survey 2025
Wider feedback collected from families over the last two years through events, feedback form, emails, and conversations

Inspectors have made clear that they are focusing only on family experiences from September 2023 onwards.

Parent Carer Survey – deadline Friday 19 September

Our survey is a key way for families to have their voices heard during this inspection.

If you haven’t yet completed it, please do so by the end of this Friday (19 September 2025).

The more responses we receive, the stronger and more representative the feedback we can share with Ofsted. Complete the Parent Carer Survey here

Virtual Town Hall Event for Parent Carers: September 26th 1.30 - 2.15pm

As part of the inspection, Ofsted have asked OxPCF to host a small online Town Hall meeting with up to 20 parent carers on Friday 26 September between 1:30pm – 2:15pm).

If you are interested in taking part, please complete our registration of interest form here.

We want this group to reflect the wide range of families in Oxfordshire. When confirming spaces, we will consider:

Where you live
Gender
Cultural and ethnic background
The age of your child(ren)
Your child’s SEND needs
The type of education they receive (mainstream, special school, alternative provision, EOTAS, home education, etc.)
Your family’s experience of health services (for example CAMHS, therapies, or medical care)

Other ways to contribute

Parents and carers can also email Ofsted directly about their experiences of SEND services in Oxfordshire at: LASendsupport@ofsted.gov.uk.

Please include “Oxfordshire” in the subject line of your email.

All emails are read by inspectors, although you may not receive a reply.

If you have any difficulty taking part — or if online forms and events aren’t for you — please get in touch.

You can email us at info@oxpcf.org.uk anytime, or call us on 07394 735666 (term time, Monday to Friday, 9:00am–2:30pm).

Thank you to everyone who has already shared their experiences in different ways — whether through our survey, events, or conversations. Your voices are vital in helping inspectors gain a full and honest picture of SEND services in Oxfordshire.