Ofsted has shared a first look at the new report cards for school inspections, after last year deciding to scrap its one word judgments such as ‘inadequate’, ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’. The new system is set to be introduced this autumn but has attracted criticism from several teaching unions, who have called the proposals at risk of “replicating the worst aspects of the current system” and one has branded it “bewildering”.
The changes follow after a coroner ruled that an Ofsted inspection contributed to the death of primary school head teacher Ruth Perry in 2023. She took her own life when Ofsted rated her school inadequate.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is expected to set out her plans for failing schools in a speech today, Monday, February 3. Under Ofsted’s proposals the old judgements, ranging across four grades, ‘inadequate’, ‘requires improvement’, ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’, will be replaced from the autumn term by a report card describing what inspectors have found on key aspects of each school.
These key areas include: quality of education, behaviour and attendance, personal development, leadership and management. There will be five possible grades for each area, which are again only one or two words: ‘causing concern’, ‘attention needed’, ‘secure’, ‘strong’ and ‘exemplary’.
The grading scales will focus on how disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils are supported by schools. There will also be more emphasis on the local context of where schools are. A separate part of the report card will determine whether the school’s safeguarding duties have been met.
The new format will be used across all settings, from early years to further education colleges, but Ofsted said they will be tailored to the type of provider.
Ofsted boss, Sir Martyn Oliver, said the proposals were designed to “raise standards and improve the lives of children, particularly the most disadvantaged”.
He said the “suite of grades” would give parents “much more detail” and help identify a school’s strengths and areas for improvement. Previously, he’s also said that the system should be “far more empathetic”.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the plans would generate a “new league table based on the sum of Ofsted judgements across at least 40 points of comparison”.
He added the new format will be, “bewildering for teachers and leaders, never mind the parents whose choices these reports are supposedly intended to guide”.
Additionally, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the plans would “do little to reduce the enormous pressure school leaders are under”.
Ofsted removed its practice of issuing overall grades at the start of the academic year, bringing in a temporary system of grading individual aspects of a school’s performance, ahead of the introduction of report cards this September.