OFSTED should ensure that accountability “is carefully balanced with the wellbeing of teachers” as it implements wide-ranging reforms to the way in which schools are inspected, church education bodies have warned.
A year ago, the Government announced that the use of one- or two-word grading for schools by Ofsted would be scrapped with immediate effect. Before this, schools were rated by Ofsted inspectors as either Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate (News, 6 September 2024).
The system had been criticised as lacking sensitivity and respect, after an inquiry last year concluded that an Ofsted inspection had contributed to the death of a headteacher in Reading, Ruth Perry. She took her own life while waiting for the Ofsted report of her school — which she knew had been rated inadequate — to be published.
The Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS), which inspects church schools on behalf of the Church’s National Society for Education and Methodist Church, switched from a similar system in 2023, and no longer grades schools with single words (News, 24 March 2023).
On Tuesday, however, Ofsted confirmed that, rather than replacing the grading system with narrative descriptions, it would instead introduce report cards, using a five-point, colour-coded scale.
Originally, the watchdog proposed that these points should be named: “causing concern”, “attention needed”, “secure”, “strong”, and “exemplary”. But responses to a public consultation suggested that these labels were both confusing and harsh. They have now been renamed “urgent improvement”, “needs attention”, “expected standard”, “strong standard”, and “exceptional”.
The aim is “to raise standards” in schools, the announcement said. Narrative descriptions are to be included in the report cards, an example of which has been published by Ofsted.
The Director of SIAMS, Dr Margaret James, said on Tuesday: “We recognise the more transparent and inclusive direction of Ofsted’s new inspection approach and welcome its recognition of each school’s unique context. As implementation begins, it’s vital that accountability to parents and the public is carefully balanced with the wellbeing of teachers — particularly in light of the ongoing concerns raised around the timeline of changes and workload.”
Other reforms announced by Ofsted this week include expanding the range of evaluation areas, while reducing the number of “core” evaluation areas from eight to six, adding a new category on “inclusion”. Safeguarding will be judged separately, as either “met” or “not met”. A toolkit to understand the grading and colour-coding has been “tightened”, Ofsted said, and an extra inspector added to teams for one day of all full inspections.
The Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said: “Our new report cards will give parents a clearer understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement at the places where their children learn. We will work with the professionals in schools, early years and further education to help them showcase the best of what they do — and help them identify where they can improve.”
The reforms will take effect from 10 November for early years, state-funded schools, and further-education and skills inspections.
