Summary
SAR Writer helps you write your section of the Self-Assessment Report against the Ofsted FE and Skills Inspection Toolkit. You upload your evidence and choose a standard. It checks the evidence against every criterion in that standard and sets out strengths, concerns and evidence gaps. You get SAR-ready text, a whole-area summary and a gap analysis to work from. This guide takes you from your first upload to a drafted SAR section.
Before you start
- The evidence for the standard you are working on. This matters most. The files you upload are the only evidence SAR Writer uses. For achievement, that might be your achievement data and learning walk records. Anything you do not upload is reported as an evidence gap, however strong your practice is.
- Your data exported from college systems. SAR Writer cannot reach your college’s data systems. Export what you need as spreadsheets or documents first.
- Nothing from Ofsted. The toolkit criteria are already built into each standard, word for word.
How it works
These are deliberate. Knowing them up front saves second-guessing.
A short answer can be the right answer. A strength or concern is listed only when your evidence definitely shows it and there is a figure, comment or record to quote. Where your files do not cover a criterion, you see “None definitely evidenced for this criterion in the available data”. SAR Writer will not guess or fill space. A thin report means thin evidence, not a fault.
There is one indicative grade, and it comes at the end. Individual criteria are never graded. The whole-area summary gives an indicative grade, based on whether every Expected criterion is met. It is there to support your judgement, not replace it. If the evidence is too thin, it says a reliable grade cannot be given.
It checks your data; it does not describe it. If you ask what a spreadsheet shows, it will not summarise it or suggest patterns. Its only job is to check your evidence against the Ofsted criteria.
Try it now
- Select SAR Writer from the Assistants list on the left-hand menu.
- Select Upload in the top menu bar and upload your achievement data.
- Check that every file has finished uploading.
- Select Achievement (provision type level).
- Scroll to the end of the report for the summary and gap analysis.
You will know it worked when each strength and concern quotes a figure from your file and names the file it came from.
The standards
Each button checks your evidence against one Ofsted standard.
| Button | Covers |
|---|---|
| Leadership & Governance (whole-provider level) | 8 Expected and 6 Strong criteria |
| Contribution to meeting skills needs (whole-provider level) | 3 Expected and 3 Strong criteria |
| Inclusion (whole-provider level) | 8 Expected and 6 Strong criteria |
| Safeguarding (whole-provider level) | 6 safeguarding headings |
| Curriculum, teaching and training (provision type level) | 16 Expected and 8 Strong criteria |
| Achievement (provision type level) | 7 Expected and 5 Strong criteria |
| Participation and development (provision type level) | 10 Expected and 10 Strong criteria |
Every standard except safeguarding
- Use it when: your evidence for that standard is uploaded.
- You get: each criterion in the Ofsted wording, with Strengths, Concerns, Evidence gaps and a paragraph of SAR-ready text. After the Expected and Strong criteria, you get a whole-area summary with an indicative grade and a SAR section of around 300 words. At the end is a gap analysis table.
- Note: the Exceptional level is not checked. Only Expected and Strong criteria are covered.
Safeguarding (whole-provider level)
- Use it when: you are preparing the safeguarding section of the SAR.
- You get: six safeguarding headings, each with Strengths, Concerns, Evidence gaps and SAR-ready text. Then you get a Met or Not Met determination, a SAR section and a gap analysis.
- Note: this works differently from the other standards. There are no Expected or Strong criteria and no five-point grade. If your evidence cannot confirm that a Met criterion is satisfied, it says so and names what is missing, rather than assuming it is met.
Walkthrough: from evidence to a SAR section
- Upload the evidence for one standard. Everything that follows is built from these files, so include everything relevant.
- Wait for every file to finish uploading. Nothing happens until you select a standard, and it can only use files that are ready.
- Select the standard. The report starts with the files it is using, so you can check nothing is missing.
- Read the criteria one by one. Check that each quoted figure is right and each strength is one you recognise. The Ofsted wording at the top of each criterion is the standard being measured against, not a claim that you meet it.
- Take the whole-area summary as a starting point. It is a “starter for ten”. Check and refine it before it goes into your SAR.
- Work through the gap analysis. It lists what evidence is missing, with a “College response” column left empty for you to complete.
- Add the missing evidence and ask it to run the standard again. New evidence can turn gaps into strengths.
Getting better results
- Upload evidence for every criterion you want covered. SAR Writer cannot credit what it cannot see.
- Check each figure against your source. Every number should come from your files. None are estimated.
- Read the evidence gaps as a to-do list, not as criticism.
- Export the SAR text to Word for editing, and the gap analysis table as CSV.
- Check the sourced references under each answer to see which files were used.
- When it lists a gap you know you evidenced, tell us which file covered it. That tells us whether the problem is in the upload or in the assistant, and it is the most useful feedback you can give.
What it will not do
- Use anything but your uploaded files. It cannot reach your college’s data systems or the web.
- Grade individual criteria. The only grade is the indicative grade in the summary.
- Make the judgement. The indicative grade and the safeguarding determination support the decisions of your Quality Director and designated safeguarding lead. They do not replace them.
- Invent, round or estimate a figure.
- Submit your SAR. It drafts text. You check, refine and decide what goes in.
Your data
- KnowledgeFlow runs in your organisation’s own Azure account. Data does not leave it.
- Prompts and responses are stored in line with your organisation’s data retention policy.
- Uploaded files are accessible only to you, in your browser.
- No user data is used to train the underlying AI models.
Common questions
Most of my criteria say “None definitely evidenced”. Is it broken? No. Your files do not yet evidence those criteria. Check the gap analysis, add the evidence and run the standard again.
Why is there no grade next to each criterion? Criteria are not graded individually. The single indicative grade is in the whole-area summary at the end.
I asked it to summarise my spreadsheet and it would not. That is by design. It checks your data against the Ofsted criteria and does not describe the data itself.
Why does safeguarding not give a grade? Ofsted assesses safeguarding as Met or Not Met, so that is what the Safeguarding standard gives you.
Do I need to upload the Ofsted toolkit? No. The criteria are built into each standard.
Next steps
Run one standard with the evidence you already hold, and use the gap analysis to plan what to gather next.