Ofsted's work with schools

How can issues around single-word
judgements, inspector expertise and academisation be improved?

By MPs on the House of Commons Education Committee

Published 2 February 2024

Introduction

We launched an inquiry into how Ofsted inspects schools in June 2023. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting and regulating a wide range of education and care settings.

As a House of Commons committee, our role is to scrutinise Government policy and make recommendations to improve it, based on the findings of our inquiries.

As the Education Committee, much of what we do focuses on the work of the Department for Education and the work of Ofsted.

One of our responsibilities is to interview the Government's preferred candidate for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) of Ofsted. The HMCI is responsible for the leadership and management of Ofsted.

We wanted to look at the way Ofsted inspects schools, and to develop recommendations for the new HMCI to take forward this year.

Ofsted has been the subject of intensified public scrutiny and debate over the past year, especially following the tragic death of Ruth Perry, headteacher at Caversham Primary School, who took her own life in January 2023 after the school was downgraded from 'outstanding' to 'inadequate'. This inquiry was not set up to look into the specific circumstances surrounding her case. However, we have taken careful note of the issues raised in the coroner's report and in the public debate more widely, many of which relate to the issues we have heard about in this inquiry. We will want regular updates on how Ofsted plans to respond to the seven areas of concern set out in the coroner's report and we expect HMCI to report to this Committee on a six-monthly basis on Ofsted's progress in addressing these significant concerns. We extend our deepest condolences to Ruth Perry's family, friends and colleagues, and thank all of those who engaged with our inquiry at this difficult time.

Our inquiry

Inquiry launch
June 2023

Written evidence submisssions
Received: June-July 2023

We received almost 300 written evidence submissions from:

Teachers
School staff
Headteachers
Parents
Teaching unions
Academics
Ofsted
The Department for Education

Read what they told us

Written submissions described inspections as “rushed”, “pressured”, and “intense” and said that the timetable did not allow for detailed discussions and consideration of the full range of evidence.

'Ofsted's work with schools', 1st Report of the House
of Commons Education Committee of Session 2023-2024

First oral evidence session
October 2023

We spoke to union representatives about their concerns regarding Ofsted and recommendations for change.

We asked for their views on the value of inspection reports and school feedback, Ofsted’s system of one-word judgements, the impact of these judgements, and an inspection’s effect on workload and wellbeing of teachers and pupils.

We also met with representatives of parents, pupils, governors and trusts. We heard about their experiences of Ofsted and how well the organisation engages and works with these different groups.

Watch the session

Tom Middlehurst, Assessment and Inspection Specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said that the single-word judgement "undermines the usefulness of the report for schools and colleges".

'Ofsted's work with schools', 1st Report of the House
of Commons Education Committee of Session 2023-2024

Second oral evidence session
October 2023

During this session, we spoke to experts from University College London, the Education Policy Institute and the National Foundation for Education Research.

We explored how the accuracy of judgements on schools can be influenced by:

the length and frequency of inspections
the familiarity of inspectors with different types of schools or the subjects that are being taught
the extent to which local disadvantage is taken into account

We also heard from former schools minister Lord Jim Knight and former HMCI Sir Michael Wilshaw, on how inspections have changed over time, and on how beneficial inspections are to schools.

Watch the session

Final oral evidence session
November 2023

In the final evidence session for this inquiry, we spoke to Amanda Spielman, His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education and Children's Services at Ofsted until 31 December, 2023.

We also heard from Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Schools at Department for Education and Juliet Chua, Director General for Schools at Department for Education.

Watch the session

Our recommendations

Sign outside of House of Commons committee room that reads "Quiet please. Committee sitting."

Elspeth Keep/UK Parliament

Single-word judgements

Following an inspection, schools receive one of four single-word judgements. This was one of the most strongly criticised issues that we examined.

We heard evidence that this does not capture the full detail of a school’s work, and that it is a key cause of stress and anxiety for teachers and school leaders.

The then Schools Minister Nick Gibb MP defended the system, arguing it helped parents who didn’t have time to read Ofsted’s reports. However, a survey by Parentkind said 72% of parents were dissatisfied with the model of a single overall grade.

We recommend that Ofsted and the Department for Education should work together to develop an alternative to the current single-word grade, by examining alternative systems used inside and outside of the UK.

Academisation of schools with two 'Requires Improvements' jugements

If schools receive two consecutive judgements of 'requires improvement' they are usually required to become an academy.

We found that this requirement has exacerbated fear among headteachers of losing their job following a negative inspection outcome.

While there must be consequences for schools which are performing badly, we recommend that the Department for Education should assess whether this extension is proportionate, and publish guidance setting out the criteria by which decisions on academy orders are made.

The Department for Education and Ofsted must ensure that there is strong support available to school leaders throughout the inspection process.

Ofsted should train inspectors on their approach to dealing with distress among school leaders during an inspection.

Judgement of safeguarding in schools

Safeguarding is an essential aspect of every school’s work. Currently, if an Ofsted inspection discovers problems in a school’s safeguarding practices, it is likely that an overall ‘inadequate’ judgement will follow.

This can happen even in cases where those problems can be fixed within the two-month window before an inspection report is published.

We are urging Ofsted to review this policy and ensure schools only receive ‘inadequate’ judgements where they are fundamentally failing to keep children safe.

In cases where safeguarding problems can easily be resolved, the Department for Education should not issue an academy order until after the school has been reinspected.

Expertise and behaviour of inspectors

During the inquiry, we heard some concerning evidence about the lack of relevant expertise among inspectors, and reports of poor behaviour by some inspectors.

There appears to be a particular problem with inspectors lacking relevant experience in primary schools and in specialist education settings.

Ofsted should ensure that a lead inspector has expertise in the type of school they are inspecting, and the majority of inspectors visiting a school should also have experience of the relevant type of school.

Read the report for our full range of recommendations to the Government.