Department for Education written question – answered at on 28 August 2025.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton
Chair, Industry and Regulators Committee, Chair, Industry and Regulators Committee
To ask His Majesty's Government how much was spent on the inspection of independent schools by Ofsted in the five financial years prior to 5 July 2024.
Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Education), Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Ofsted inspects around 50% of the 2,496 (July 2025) registered private schools in England. There is currently disparity between the fees charged for inspections and full cost recovery.
The table below sets out the budgeted cost of inspections compared to the fee income, over the last three years. Ofsted do not hold comparable data for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years as Ofsted inspections were heavily affected by COVID-19 and were therefore not typical years of inspection activity.
Year | Full cost - £million | Fee income - £million | % of costs recovered |
2022/23 | 6.8 | 1.9 | 28% |
2023/24 | 6.4 | 2.3 | 36% |
2024/25 | 6.5 | 2.2 | 34% |
Government policy is that costs associated with inspections by government bodies should be recoverable. This will reduce the need for government subsidy. The government is considering options to close the gap.
Yes2 people think so
No2 people think not
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