Until 2012, Ofsted, the inspectorate for schools in England, used four grades: outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate. A school graded satisfactory did not provide a good standard of education.
In September 2012, the chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, replaced satisfactory with requires improvement. Ofsted said: “Satisfactory should never have been more than a staging post on a school’s journey towards providing a good or outstanding education for all children.”