Section 48 Report

A Section 48 inspection is an inspection of religious education and the religious character of a school, carried out under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005. It applies to schools that have been formally designated as having a religious character — Church of England, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and other faith schools.

It sits alongside the standard Ofsted inspection (Section 5) but is separate: Ofsted has no remit to inspect the RE provision in a school designated as having a religious character, so the faith body does it instead. Section 5 covers the whole school; Section 48 covers the faith dimension. The inspection is commissioned by the relevant diocese or faith body rather than Ofsted, and the inspectors are appointed by them. In Catholic schools it's run by the diocese.

What inspectors look at typically includes:

• The Catholic and mission of the school (its distinctiveness as a faith school)

• The quality of religious education teaching and curriculum

• The quality of collective worship

• How leaders and governors promote and evaluate the school's religious character

Reports are published separately from Ofsted reports and the latest report from 2023 is available here to view.