From Delivery to Impact: How Inclusion Shows Up in Everyday Practice and How Providers Prove It Works
Part 3 of a 4-part series reviewing Ofsted’s Inclusion Toolkit via the graduated approach: Assess, Plan, Do, Review.
In earlier articles in the series we’ve discussed the importance of robust performance-based assessment and the planning phase that should take place for those learners who trigger your support thresholds. These steps are essential but neither counts if support does not show up in the flow of learning, or if providers can’t demonstrate that it made a meaningful difference.
The Do and Review stages of the graduated approach are where inclusion becomes real, observable and impactful for the learner. They are the stages where Ofsted will examine what tutors do and what leaders can evidence.
What Ofsted Says
1) Support and reasonable adjustments must be delivered
Inspectors evaluate whether leaders “make sure learners and apprentices receive effective support… and ensure that appropriate reasonable adjustments are made…”[1]
This is the cornerstone of the “Do” stage. Inclusion is not conceptual, it must be visible in teaching, and it must be effective.
2) Personalised support must be sustained and monitored
For disadvantaged learners, Ofsted evaluates whether leaders “sustain and monitor the delivery of their inclusion strategy… [and] continually monitor the impact of their approaches… and make helpful and proactive adaptations as appropriate.”[1]
This defines the “Review” stage: leaders must show both delivery and adaptation over time, not just compliance at a single moment. Furthermore, they must demonstrate impact for their learners.
3) Emerging and changing needs must be picked up quickly
Inspectors check whether leaders “identify learners’ and apprentices’ emerging and changing needs quickly and accurately.”
Needs change during delivery and reviews must capture and respond to this.
Why Delivery and Review Now Matter Most
Inclusion must show up in the learning environment
Ofsted’s primary interest is learner experience. It does not matter how well a support plan is written if it is not acted on; the learner does not engage with support strategies or receive reasonable adjustments.
Delivery (Do) is where learners feel whether the organisation understands them.
Tutors are the main delivery mechanism
Most learners do not need specialist intervention; they need tutors who understand their barriers and know how to make appropriate adjustments.
This is the heart of inclusion “in the flow of learning”.
Specialists remain essential for higher-needs learners, but inclusion at scale relies on tutors, coaches and workplace mentors.
Delivery generates new insight that feeds review
Tutors are often the first to notice when something is not working; a learner disengages, struggles, or progresses rapidly.
This makes delivery the source of new data that informs the Review stage. Review is where this insight is made structured and evidence-based.
Impact must be demonstrable, not assumed
Ofsted will ask:
- Did the support work?
- How do you know?
- What changed for this learner?
- What evidence shows this improvement?
- If it didn’t work, what did you change next?
Review is where providers answer these questions with confidence.
Evidence must be credible and consistent
Ofsted will treat undocumented support as undelivered support. Review requires a clear record of what was delivered, why, and what effect it had.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
1) Tutors aren’t confident delivering adjustments
They may understand the barriers but not the pedagogical implications and what strategies/adjustments are effective in removing or reducing the impact of that barrier.
Avoid it by: Providing staff with barrier-specific, practical adjustments and strategies they can implement in day-to-day learning.
2) Support is reactive, not proactive
Adjustments only happen after a learner shows signs of struggle.
Avoid it by: Embedding adjustments into delivery from the outset, based on initial assessment insights. Assess every learner so you can ‘do’ delivery for every learner who needs it.
3) Delivery is not evidenced
Providers cannot show what support was given or why when asked after the fact. Providers have done all the right things for the learner but cannot evidence it when asked later which has devastating consequences when audited by Ofsted or for funding claims.
Avoid it by:
Using simple, low-burden methods for capturing delivery and outcomes as part of normal workflows.
4) Review is informal or inconsistent and lacking the learner’s perspective
Providers may offer excellent support but lack a structured review cycle.
Avoid it by: Introducing scheduled review points with learners where progress, impact and next steps are documented and shared including the learner’s perspective on progress and impact.
What Good ‘Do’ + ‘Review’ Looks Like
Strategic Level (Leadership):
- A clear, organisation-wide delivery model aligned to the inclusion plan that utilises human resource effectively enabling tutors to deliver frontline support and letting ALS/SEND resource focus on the most complex needs.
- Scheduled APDR review cycles followed across whole provision.
- Continuous monitoring through observations, learner voice and data.
- Oversight that ensures emerging needs and impact are visible at leadership level.
Operational Level (Tutors, Coaches, Assessors):
- Understanding of specific learner barriers and their implications for learning.
- Real-time adaptation of support when learners are not benefitting from the existing support plan.
- Support is reviewed with learners, with clear documented next steps that is easily retrieved when audits occur.
- Evidence recorded consistently and accurately.
Inspection Lens: Self-Audit Questions
Ask your team:
- Can tutors demonstrate how adjustments and strategies linked to specific learner barriers are implemented?
- If asked, would learners consistently report receiving the support that we say we provide?
- Can we show evidence – not anecdotes – of support delivered over time for each learner we are supporting?
- Do we have a structured review cycle, followed across all provision, that captures impact and next steps of those receiving support?
- Can we demonstrate how we respond when needs change, and how we know support is working?
If the answer to any question is “not confidently”, inspection risk remains high.
Delivery is where inclusion becomes real. Review is where impact becomes visible.
Together they represent the heart of Ofsted’s Inclusion judgement, not what providers intend or say, but what learners experience and what evidence shows.
The providers who will achieve Strong or Exceptional Inclusion grades are those who can demonstrate not only that support is planned, but that it is delivered consistently and reviewed intelligently, with clear evidence of the difference it makes.
By Chris Quickfall, CEO of Cognassist
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