Guidance

Ofsted services: multi-factor authentication for Government Gateway

Set up additional security features on your Government Gateway account

Applies to England

You have the option of setting up a further level of security in your Government Gateway account for Ofsted services.

If you do set this up, you will receive a code when you want to:

  • sign into Government Gateway
  • reset your Government Gateway password
  • recover your Government Gateway user ID if you forget it

If you lose your user ID or password, you will find it easier to recover or reset them with multi-factor authentication set up.

How to set up multi-factor authentication

You will need to:

  1. Create a Government Gateway account if you do not have one, or sign into your existing account.
  2. At the top right, select 鈥楳anage profile鈥�.
  3. Scroll down to 鈥榊our security preferences鈥�.
  4. Select 鈥楢dd鈥�.
  5. Select whether you want to receive access codes by text message, voice call or through an app:

    • text message, which you will need a mobile phone number for
    • voice call, which you will need a phone number for
    • through an app, which you will need a smartphone or tablet for
  6. Follow the instructions for the method you chose.

Updates to this page

Published 7 July 2020

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