Quality Standards (Ofsted)
The quality standards are the outcome-focused standards in the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 that a children’s home must meet, covering areas such as protection, education, health, positive relationships and leadership.
Quality Standards (Ofsted) in practice
Each standard states the outcome children should experience, followed by what the registered person must do to achieve it, which makes them a checklist of results rather than of paperwork.
Ofsted inspects against them using its inspection framework for children’s social care. Evidence is drawn from what children say and experience, observation, and records, so a home can hold every required policy and still fail a standard if children’s experience does not match.
They are a useful structure for self-evaluation between inspections, because they are written in the same terms an inspector will use.
Back to the glossaryRelated definitions
SC1 and SC2 applications
SC1 and SC2 are the Ofsted application forms for registering a children’s home or supported accommodation service: SC1 registers the provider and the service, and SC2 is completed by each person connected to it, including the manager, the responsible individual (nominated individual in supported accommodation) and directors involved in running it.
Read definitionResponsible Individual (Ofsted)
A Responsible Individual is the person an organisation nominates to Ofsted as accountable for supervising the management of a children’s home, and they are assessed by Ofsted for their suitability for that role.
Read definitionChildren’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015
The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 are the regulations governing how children’s homes in England must be run, and they contain the quality standards Ofsted inspects against.
Read definitionRegistering with CQC or Ofsted?
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