Minister for School Standards (): My noble friend, the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System
() has made the following
Written Ministerial Statement:
The 2019 manifesto committed the Government to intervening in
schools with entrenched underperformance. We believe that every
child has the right to go to a school that is Good or
Outstanding. Whilst we have rightly focused our attention on
Inadequate schools in recent years, we now need to look at the
minority of schools that are not making necessary improvements.
We are especially concerned about schools that have received 2 or
more consecutive Ofsted judgements of below Good. There are
currently around 900 state schools in England (around 4.3% of
schools), with around 420,000 pupils, that meet this threshold.
The above numbers will obviously depend on the outcome of
upcoming inspections as schools will fall into and out of scope.
Following the pause in Ofsted inspections due to the Covid-19
pandemic, Ofsted recommenced inspections in May 2021 and, as the
Government announced in the recent White Paper, will inspect all
schools against the current inspection framework by the end of
the summer term 2025, to provide a quicker assessment of recovery
from the pandemic.
By amending the definition of a school which is ‘coasting’, this
statutory instrument will grant the Secretary of State for
Education the discretionary power to intervene in schools that
are currently judged as Requires Improvement by Ofsted and that
have met the threshold of 2 or more consecutive Ofsted judgements
below Good. This power to intervene will apply equally to
maintained schools and academies. It will also apply to
maintained special schools, alternative provision academies and
pupil referral units which have previously been excluded under
the existing power to intervene in coasting schools.
We want to support pupils in schools that are in areas of the
greatest entrenched underperformance. Therefore, initially the
Department will prioritise interventions in schools that are in
one of the 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs). The Department
will also prioritise schools that are not currently part of a
strong family of schools, especially where the Department does
not believe the current leadership has the capacity to drive
school improvement quickly enough.
Regional Directors will assess each case on an individual basis,
taking into account any representations made by the school’s
governing body and other interested parties, inspection history
(including whether inspection reports demonstrate an upward
trajectory), evidence regarding the capacity of leadership and
management to secure sustained improvement, performance and other
quantitative data and evidence relating to the local context of
the school.
The update to the Schools Causing Concern guidance published
alongside the response to the consultation on Supporting Schools
Not Making Necessary improvements sets out the process for
intervention in schools that meet the new definition of
‘coasting’.
