Self-evaluation form (SEF): checklists, guidance and template

Get help writing your school's self-evaluation form (SEF). Assess your school using our general or EYFS checklists. Download our template SEF, plan activities to monitor progress and take a look at examples of SEFs from other schools.

1. Checklists: identify your strengths and weaknesses
2. Complete your SEF using our template
3. Tips for completing your SEF
4. See examples of SEFs from schools

There are 2 parts to this article:

• 2 checklists – whole school and Early Foundation Stage (EYFS) – to use to evaluate your school against the Ofsted judgements (e.g. if you're a new headteacher, or haven't had an inspection under the 2019 framework). If you don't need to use these, you can go straight to the self-evaluation form (SEF) template
• Template and guidance to complete your SEF against the Ofsted framework, which will later help you write your school improvement plan (SIP)

Remember: Ofsted doesn't expect your SEF to be in any particular format. Any assessment should be part of your usual school improvement processes and not for Ofsted (see the School Inspection Handbook, paragraph 21).

Checklists: identify your strengths and weaknesses

Whole-school checklist

Check your school's provision against the Ofsted framework, including optional sections for EYFS and post-16.

Ofsted inspects early years education as part of regular school inspections.