Inspection FAQ’s

Below we have collected together the most common questions we have been asked about the SEND Area Inspection. This page will remain under review during the inspection and additional information may be added so you may want to check back.

 What is a SEND Area Inspection and what areas are they looking at?

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspect how well education, health and social care services work together to support children and young people with SEND.

A SEND area inspection looks at how well local services work together to support children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), from early years through to age 25.

Inspectors will want to understand the experiences and outcomes of children and young people and their families across education, health and social care.

The Local Area Partnership includes:

  • The Local Authority (Surrey County Council)
  • The NHS Integrated Care Board (NHS Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board and NHS services)
  • Education providers (schools, colleges, early years settings and alternative provision)
  • Social care services
  • Other commissioned SEND services and partners who support children and young people with SEND.

How does the inspection work?

The way an area SEND inspection is carried out is set nationally by Ofsted and CQC. This means that all areas are inspected using the same national framework and process.

The local area does not decide how the inspection is carried out or have the ability to change the inspection process. The inspectors work independently and follow the national framework when gathering information and listening to the experiences of children, young people and families

You can read more about the Inspection process via this link:Area SEND inspections: framework and handbook – GOV.UK

Who chooses the children’s cases that are being tracked?

Inspectors may select around 6 children and young people, with different needs, ages and experiences, to take part in tracking meetings. Families of these children may be invited to contribute alongside the child or young person and the professionals who know them. These families are chosen by OFSTED and CQC and not by Surrey CC.

How have parent carers been notified about the inspection and the survey?

Some parents have asked how Surrey County Council and health services have let parents know about the inspection and the survey. We have asked for information of the different ways this has happened.

  • The survey is available on the Local Offer website: Surrey SEND Local Area Partnership Inspection – Surrey County Council and is also linked to from the homepage
  • A post promoting the survey has gone out on the Local Offer Facebook account (3.6k followers)
  • This post has also been shared to the Surrey County Council Facebook account (23.5k followers)
  • A special edition of the regular AND Newsletter has gone out exclusively to promote the survey, to 3.5k subscribers
  • All members of the AND Partnership Board have been asked to share the survey with their networks
  • All education settings (schools, post-16 and Early Years) have been emailed directly with a request to share the survey with their families
  • The survey has been shared through a wide variety of health networks and forums
  • The survey is being sent to all those who have attended a fortnightly introduction session (run jointly by SCC and health) and have given permission to be contacted – 60+ families
  • All Short Breaks providers have been asked to share the survey with their families
  • SEND Advice Surrey are emailing all their contacts and have also shared on their Facebook account
  • Surrey Youth Voice are sharing the survey with the members of their ATLAS group for young people with additional needs or disabilities
  • All Councillors have been asked to share the survey with their constituents it may be relevant for
  • All staff across the Council and ICB have been asked via email / intranet article to share the survey with families they work with.

 In addition Family Voice Surrey have shared on our website, social media and through our mailing list. We encourage you to share with families in Surrey to ensure as many parent carers as possible can have their say.

How can I feed into the inspection?

The main way for parent carers to feedback their experiences is via the Ofsted and CQC survey which closes9am Wednesday 30th September. This survey has been designed by Ofsted and the results are reviewed by Ofsted and CQC only.

If you need any help to complete the survey, Family Voice Surrey (FVS) can do this, just email us at contact@familyvoicesurrey.org.

The survey can be accessed here: https://ofsted.smartsurvey.co.uk/p/AreaSend/10436548

In addition Family Voice Surrey will be meeting with inspectors to share the collective experiences and feedback of families in Surrey. FVS are arranging 2 sessions where parent carers can come and share their feedback and this will be used to give Inspectors a picture of parent carers lived experiences.

Can I email or speak to inspectors?

We spoke to the Lead Inspector about how families can share their views with the inspection team.

The inspection team wants to hear from as many families as possible. They would like families to use the survey as the core method to provide any feedback because it helps the inspection team to collate views from families in a consistent way, enabling them to understand what families experience in Surrey. It also lets the team compare the survey results with other areas in the country.

The inspection team understands that an online form may not work for everyone. If this is difficult, families can use a paper form instead and email it to the address provided.

Inspectors would like to highlight that families can use the free text boxes in the survey to share more views or examples that they may wish to. This helps the inspection team read and use everyone’s feedback when they build their understanding of local SEND support.

The email address linked to the survey is not for sending additional feedback outside of the survey. The Lead Inspector wants families to know this because their views are important, and the survey is the best way to make sure their feedback is included and consistently reviewed

Why can’t parent carers meet directly with Ofsted?

The inspection process has changed under the current framework. Area Inspections no longer include a public meeting for parent carers. We want to be clear this is not a decision made by Family Voice Surrey or Surrey County Council. This change has been introduced by Ofsted and CQC as part of the new inspection framework.

Under the new framework Inspectors only meet once with the Parent Carer Forum to understand the views and experiences of families.

Prior to that meeting, Family Voice Surrey (FVS) are offering 2 engagement sessions for parent carers to come and tell FVS your experiences so that FVS can feed this back to inspectors.

FVS want to hear your experiences across education, health and social care. FVS want you to tell them:

  • What isn’t working
  • What you would like to see improved
  • What is working well

In addition, when we meet with inspectors we will also be feeding back all of the information we already have from parent carers, this is from engagement events we have run, surveys, polls, and email contact so if you have fed into any of these please be assured that this will all be taken into account.

When are the Family Voice Surrey meetings being held and how to I book onto a meeting?

When: Sep 28, 2026 10:30 AM 

Register in advance for this meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/liFeftU1Rm-lg2ftifxJuw

When: Sep 28, 2026 07:00 PM

Register in advance for this meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/OyADeSpdTBKy0Lp_3O4PzA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

What is the purpose of the online Family Voice Surrey (FVS) meetings?

These meetings are for parent carers to tell Family Voice Surrey (FVS) their experiences and feedback of SEND in Surrey – FVS need to hear;, what isn’t working, what you would like to see improved and what is working well. The information and feedback received will inform and shape what FVS tell inspectors and will help ensure that the experiences of local families are represented.

Will inspectors or Surrey CC be attending the Family Voice Surrey (FVS) meetings?

No the meetings will just be with Family Voice Surrey staff and parent carers.

Will we be able to find out what Family Voice Surrey (FVS) told inspectors?

Following the 2 parent carer sessions, FVS will pull together some slides with a brief overview, outlining the themes that have been heard to share with inspectors during the meeting. These slides available on the Family Voice Surrey website.

I can’t go to the Family Voice Surrey (FVS) meeting – how else can I feed into this?

You can email any feedback to contact@familyvoicesurrey.org by 8pm on Monday 28th September

When will we know the outcome of the inspection?

Following the inspection a full report will be prepared and once ready it will be published – this is when the you will see what the outcome is. The time for this varies so it is difficult to give a clear timeframe. As soon as it is published Family Voice Surrey will share it with all parent carer members via email and on social media.

What are the possible outcomes?

Under the new framework there are now 3 possible outcomes these are:

  • The local area partnership’s SENDarrangements typically lead to positive experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. The local area partnership is taking action where improvements are needed.
  • The local area partnership’s arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. The local area partnership must work jointly to make improvements.
  • There are widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND, which the local area partnership must address urgently.

When was Surrey’s last Area Inspection and what was the outcome?

Surrey’s last Area Inspection was in November 2023 and they received this outcome:

  • The local area partnership’s arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. The local area partnership must work jointly to make improvements.