Social Care Regulatory Inspector

Job summary

Social Care Regulatory Inspectors are responsible for the regulation and inspection of children’s social care within one of Ofsted’s eight regions. This includes children’s homes, boarding schools, residential family centres, fostering and adoption services, residential special schools, and welfare in further education colleges under The Care Standards Act 2000 and associated legislation.

We are currently recruiting for vacancies across England.

Job description

For more information, please refer to the job specification. Available to download at the bottom of this page.

Also see our interactive recruitment brochure for full details of the many benefits available.

Person specification

For more information, please refer to the job specification. Available to download at the bottom of this page.

Also see our interactive recruitment brochure for full details of the many benefits available.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £59,941, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills contributes £17,364 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Annual leave 32.5 days + 8 bank holidays

Home-based working allowance of £510 per annum (£312 of this is tax free)

Vehicle user allowance of £370 per annum

See our interactive recruitment brochure for full details of the many benefits available

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

The most suitable candidates will be invited to complete an assessment in the week commencing 28 September 2026 and an interview in the week commencing 9 November 2026.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo an enhanced (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Ofsted Resourcing team
• Email : jobs@ofsted.gov.uk
• Telephone : 03000 131 487

Recruitment team

• Email : jobs@ofsted.gov.uk

Further information

We recruit on the basis of merit through fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should email Ofsted’s Resourcing team at jobs@ofsted.gov.uk in the first instance.

https://ofsted.pagetiger.com/SCRI/august-2026

Attachments

Social Care Regulatory Inspector - Job specification Opens in new window (pdf, 207kB)