91¶¶Òõ

Ofsted has announced that it is pausing routine inspections of national professional qualifications (NPQs) after a request from education secretary Bridget Phillipson.

The watchdog will not carry out any of these routine inspections for the remainder of the 2025-26 academic year.

Ofsted said inspections have been stopped to align with the Department for Education’s NPQ review and the launch of the early career teacher entitlement (ECTE) in September this year.

Bringing NPQ and ECF in line

Ofsted will now redevelop the Early Career Framework (ECF) and NPQ inspection framework to bring this in line with its renewed approach to other education inspections, including schools, which began on 10 November.

The watchdog said it will begin engaging with the sector on its proposed changes in spring next year.

The ECTE is a two-year programme that supports early career teachers when they start their teaching career.

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