As the government considers school accountability and the role of
Ofsted, a new paper published by the Education Policy Institute
sheds light on the flaws of the current accountability system and
calls for a fairer and more holistic approach to measuring school
effectiveness. The paper highlights that:
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Current performance measures can provide a
disincentive to schools being inclusive for all
pupils. Inflexible systems that do not recognise and
adjust for the high level of additional needs amongst some
pupils are incompatible with an education system that works for
all.
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Accountability measures are making things more
difficult for schools in the most challenging areas.
Around one-in-three of the most disadvantaged schools are
labelled as “well below average” by the Department for
Education on their key measure of secondary school performance
(Progress 8), compared with just one-in-fifty of the least
disadvantaged. Being labelled as underperforming can make it
more difficult for a school to improve.
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Parents and carers are not well served by an
accountability system that remains focussed on individual
schools. While Ofsted reports comment on the efficacy
of individual schools in relation to quality of education and
leadership and management, the reality is that decisions around
financial management, workforce deployment, and the curriculum
offer are now often taken at trust level rather than in
individual academies.
The Government should press ahead with their report card to give
a wider view of school performance and today EPI has
published an updated online benchmarking tool as a blueprint for
the new report card. The interactive tool allows the
direct comparison of individual academy trusts, local
authorities, and other groups, providing empirical data on
academic attainment and progress; pupil inclusion; and workforce
and financial management. The tool is available here.
EPI also recommends that:
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The government should consider how to
reflect children and young people's wellbeing. There
are no current measures of pupil wellbeing available in
centrally collected data. The #BeeWell annual survey of
pupil wellbeing has been in operation in Greater Manchester
since 2021, and more recently across Hampshire, Isle of
Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton[1] and is an example of
how this data could be collected more widely.
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The government and Ofsted should implement
plans for MAT inspection but in consultation
with the sector and building in acknowledgement of different
size and scale of MATs.
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Ofsted's role should focus on assessing the quality of
teaching and learning, and a broad and balanced
curriculum, rather than on those areas which can be
better served by more frequent empirical data. Its emphasis on
inclusion in the new framework should be the extent to which
the curriculum and teaching is flexible to the needs of all
pupils, in particular those with special educational needs. To
maintain its independence, Ofsted should not have a role in
school improvement.
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Ofsted should separate safeguarding from other elements
of the accountability system. The high-stakes nature
of inspection may also have the unintended consequence of
incentivising people to ‘hide' issues rather than acknowledge
them and seek help. The nature of safeguarding risks is
constantly evolving, and all schools require regular training
and feedback.
Quotes
Jon Andrews, Director for School System and Performance
at the Education Policy Institute,
said:
“The accountability system does not paint a fair picture of
school effectiveness. Schools serving disadvantaged communities
are far more likely to be labelled as underperforming, and
performance measures can act as a disincentive to be inclusive
for all pupils. The system is in need of urgent reform.
“The accountability system has not kept up with how the school
system in England now operates with nearly half of primary and
special schools, and the overwhelming majority of secondary
schools, now being part of academy trusts.
“Our measures of performance for school groups that capture pupil
outcomes and progress, pupil inclusion and workforce and
financial management, provide a blueprint for the development of
the new school report card. The Department for Education holds a
wide range of data on schools and school groups that could help
them be better accountable to the communities that they serve”.
Background
Over the past year, Ofsted carried out its “Big Listen” to gather
feedback from the sector and parents, and the government has
announced that it plans to reform performance tables with a new
school report card, as well as a new Ofsted framework from
2025/26.
It is therefore an opportune moment to consider how the
accountability system is currently operating and reflect on what
it is that it should be delivering.[2] In late 2024
we convened a roundtable to discuss the what the accountability
system should be looking to measure although this discussion
paper does not represent a position of consensus amongst our
participants.
The paper on reforming the school accountability system was
kindly supported by AQA, and the update to the benchmarking tool
by HG Foundation and Capita.
[1] A collaboration between
the University of Manchester, the Gregson Family Foundation and
Anna Freud. https://beewellprogramme.org/
[2] Whilst there are other
ways in which schools are “accountable” (such as academy trust
funding agreements with the Department for Education) we consider
accountability here in terms of performance tables (currently
known as compare school performance)
and Ofsted inspections.
