Guidance on assurance visits to children’s social care providers and the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

Ofsted is not currently carrying out inspections under the social care common inspection framework. However, we are making assurance visits from 1 September 2020 as part of a phased return to routine inspection.

Assurance visits

  1. Assurance visits: children’s homes
  2. Assurance visits: secure children’s homes
  3. Assurance visits: boarding schools
  4. Assurance visits: residential special schools
  5. Assurance visits: residential provision of further education colleges
  6. Assurance visits: secure training centres

Social care common inspection framework

Our first principle of inspection is to focus on the things that matter most to children’s lives. The SCCIF is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ framework. The evaluation criteria are broadly consistent across the different types of children’s social care services but they reflect the unique nature of each type of service.

Inspectors can also read guidance on safeguarding concerns.

  1. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): children’s homes
  2. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): secure children’s homes
  3. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): independent fostering agencies
  4. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): boarding schools and residential special schools
  5. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): voluntary adoption agencies
  6. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): adoption support agencies
  7. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): residential family centres
  8. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): residential holiday schemes for disabled children
  9. Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): residential provision of further education colleges

Published 22 February 2017
Last updated 17 August 2020 + show all updates

  1. Added guidance on assurance visits that Ofsted will carry out from September 2020.

  2. Minor updates to all SCCIF handbooks including additional guidance for inspectors in the ‘Listening and talking to children and young people’ sections and updated guidance in the ‘Conduct during inspections’ sections.

  3. Updated with link to new secure children’s homes SCCIF.

  4. Minor update to the evaluation criteria describing inadequate effectiveness of leaders and managers (section 5.3) within in the SCCIF for the inspection of children’s homes and secure children’s homes.

  5. Minor updates to 7 framework manuals (no changes to residential provision of further education colleges).

  6. The information about monitoring visits for boarding schools and residential special schools and residential provision of further education colleges has been rewritten.

  7. First published.