Ofsted logos and grades
Any Ofsted logo or grade on the website must be used only as Ofsted allows: no withdrawn single-word grade logos, no misleading grade claims, and clear which school a grade relates to. Single-word grades were withdrawn for inspections from September 2024.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- The school's own website
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When is it due?
- Renewal
- No fixed date
The official sources set no renewal date. Keep it accurate whenever it changes.
What's needed
Publish Ofsted logos and grades only as Ofsted's conditions allow: the correct logo on the page about that school, with the inspection date and report link.
What it must contain
8 parts- Links to Ofsted as the source of any grade or report referencedShould
- Has removed withdrawn single-word Ofsted grade logos from the siteMust
- Does not falsely imply that the provision is gradedMust
- Makes clear which school an Ofsted grade logo relates to, when the site covers more than oneMust
- Does not carry over a predecessor school's Ofsted grade, when reopened under a new URNMust
- Does not use Ofsted's main logo without its express permissionMust
- Does not use unofficial Ofsted approved or registered logosShould
- Does not use an Ofsted logo for a grade from another inspectorate, when inspected by oneMust
What the official sources say
Set out in 1 official source:
Using Ofsted logos and copyright
We have specific ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ logos for those that received ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ as the overall grade at the last inspection.
Must§ Ofsted ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ overall grade logos
The most important thing when using one of these logos is to not mislead the public, intentionally or otherwise. You must not falsely imply that your provision is graded ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ when it is not.
Must§ Ofsted ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ overall grade logos
Show 8 more from this source
If your provision has closed and you reopen it under a new unique reference number ( URN ), your original provision ceases to exist in law and is replaced by a new and distinct legal entity. As a result, the inspection history and any grades of the predecessor provision cannot, in law, transfer to the new one. This means you cannot continue to use any previous ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ overall grade logos attached to the old URN
Must§ Ofsted ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ overall grade logos
If you have previously been judged as ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ but you have now been inspected again, that inspection will not have any overall grade. This means you must remove these logos from your website, banners and other marketing materials.
Must§ Ofsted ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ overall grade logos
If you have a website that covers more than one provision, for example a chain of nurseries, a group of children’s homes or a multi-academy trust, you must be clear which provision any overall grade logos relate to. You can put a ‘good’ logo on, for example, a specific page about a ‘good’ nursery in your chain, but not in the header or footer of the whole website when it covers other nurseries that do not have this overall grade.
Must§ Ofsted ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ overall grade logos
You cannot use our main logo, unless in exceptional circumstances and with our express permission.
Must§ Ofsted logos > The main Ofsted logo
If you have been inspected by another inspectorate, such as the Independent Schools Inspectorate ( ISI ), you cannot use any Ofsted logo to reflect this. You can make clear on your website and other marketing materials that you are inspected by the ISI , but not with any Ofsted logo.
Must§ Misuse and misrepresentation
Any other ‘logos’ that are in circulation, such as ‘Ofsted approved’ or ‘Ofsted registered’ logos, are unofficial and should not be used.
Should§ Ofsted logos
We’re keen that schools and other education providers link to Ofsted Parent View to encourage parents and carers to complete the questionnaire. This includes the option to embed the Ofsted Parent View logo on their website.
Good practice§ Ofsted Parent View logo
You may use and re-use information on Ofsted’s GOV.UK website (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium under the terms of the Open Government Licence. Please reference the source of the information, including a hyperlink.
Should§ Copyright
Questions schools ask
Does every school have to publish the Ofsted logos and grades?
The official sources we check set no requirement for academies. The official sources we check set no requirement for maintained schools.
When does the Ofsted logos and grades need to be published?
Renewal: No fixed date. The official sources set no renewal date. Keep it accurate whenever it changes.
What must the Ofsted logos and grades include?
Links to Ofsted as the source of any grade or report referenced; Has removed withdrawn single-word Ofsted grade logos from the site; Does not falsely imply that the provision is graded; Makes clear which school an Ofsted grade logo relates to, when the site covers more than one; Does not carry over a predecessor school's Ofsted grade, when reopened under a new URN; Does not use Ofsted's main logo without its express permission; and 2 more parts listed above.
Where does the requirement for the Ofsted logos and grades come from?
It is set out in Using Ofsted logos and copyright.
Changes to the official sources
Dated change notes published by the Department for Education on the sources above.
17 April 2026 · Using Ofsted logos and copyright
We made minor updates to the guidance for clarity and added a new section on using the Ofsted QR code badge, which contains a version of the logo.
11 October 2024 · Using Ofsted logos and copyright
We have added a paragraph clarifying that providers inspected by another inspectorate cannot use an Ofsted logo to reflect this.
16 September 2024 · Using Ofsted logos and copyright
Updated to reflect recent changes to school inspection.
13 October 2022 · Using Ofsted logos and copyright
Updated the name and contact email address for the Content team.
17 August 2020 · Using Ofsted logos and copyright
Added specific section on logo use for childminder agencies.
23 April 2015 · Using Ofsted logos and copyright
First published.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
Is this on your school's website?
We check your site the way an inspector or a parent would find it: page by page, against the official wording of each requirement. If it's there, you get the page and the words we found. If it isn't, you get every place we looked.
Check this one requirement free, or scan your whole site against every requirement.
Official wording that does not apply to schools (1)
We no longer issue overall grades in our inspections, so these associated logos will gradually phase out as more education and care providers are inspected under the current system.
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4