Presentation given by Dr Richard Kueh, Ofsted's subject lead for religious education (RE), at the NATRE conference in January 2021.

1. Ofsted’s education inspection
framework and religious education
Dr Richard Kueh
Her Majesty’s Inspector
Subject Lead – Religious Education
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 1

2. The education inspection framework
“… the substance
of education …”
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 2

3. Ofsted and the curriculum
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 3
 The extent to which the school curriculum sets out the
knowledge and skills that pupils will gain at each stage (intent)
 The way that the curriculum is taught and assessed in order to
support pupils to build knowledge and to apply that knowledge
as skills (implementation)
 What pupils are able to do and achieve as a result of the
education they receive (impact)

4. Areas of the EIF
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 4

5. Personal development
Emphasis on:
 pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural
development
 fostering of tolerance and respect
 fostering of good community relations.
‘Impact’ is not a part of personal development.
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 5

6. Areas of the EIF
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 6

7. The quality of education
 The curriculum is the progression
model.
 The curriculum sets out the journey
of what it means to ‘get better’ at
RE.
 The curriculum builds expertise
(both receptive and productive).
 Progress as ‘know more, remember
more, do more’.
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 7

8. Ambitious curriculum end-goals
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 8
For example: ‘pupils have built up accurate knowledge about the
complexity and diversity of global religion and non-religion’.

9. Ambitious end-goals in RE?
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 9
Aspects of identity,
such as:
 moral codes
 rites of passage
 authority over
household codes
(marriage, gender).

10. Ambitious end-goals in RE?
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 10
 ‘Non-practising
Catholics’
 ‘Secular Jews’
 ‘Cultural Muslims’
 ‘Holding Christian
values (but not
church-going)
Christians’

11. Building towards curriculum end-goals
 What is on the RE curriculum?
 What RE curriculum content?
 What is ‘content’ in RE?
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 11

12. Problematising curriculum content
 What kind of knowledge?
 What of the relationship
between the learner and the
subject matter?
 What might the categories of
knowledge within RE?
 What are the pillars of
knowledge that pupils build
through the curriculum?
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 12

13. RE and ‘categories of knowledge’
 ‘Substantive’ content
and concepts
 ‘Ways of knowing’
 ‘Personal knowledge’
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 13

14. RE and ‘categories of knowledge’
 ‘Substantive’ content
and concepts
 ‘Ways of knowing’
 ‘Personal knowledge’
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 14

15. Substantive content and concepts
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 15
 Has the curriculum prepared
all pupils with vocabulary,
concepts and other content
to secure readiness for new
learning?
 Do pupils have sufficient
depth of knowledge on
which to ‘hang’ new
learning?

16. RE and ‘categories of knowledge’
 ‘Substantive’ content
and concepts
 ‘Ways of knowing’
 ‘Personal knowledge’
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 16

17. ‘How to know’ in RE
 Skills are considered in
subject-specific terms as the
capacity to perform,
drawing upon what is
known (‘productive
expertise’).
 In high-quality RE
curriculums, productive
expertise is linked directly to
the specific content that is
found on the curriculum.
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 17

18. RE and ‘categories of knowledge’
 ‘Substantive’ content
and concepts
 ‘Personal knowledge’
 ‘Ways of knowing’
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 18

19. Ofsted on the web and on social media
www.gov.uk/ofsted
https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk
www.linkedin.com/company/ofsted
www.youtube.com/ofstednews
www.slideshare.net/ofstednews
www.twitter.com/ofstednews
Ofsted’s education inspection framework and RE :: NATRE :: Strictly RE :: January 2021 Slide 19