Ofsted has announced changes to how
school inspections are carried out to reduce pressures on
teachers and school leaders.
Ofsted provides independent,
up to date evaluations on the quality of education, behaviour,
personal development, safeguarding, and leadership, which schools
and parents value.
We want the inspection system to be as
helpful as possible for everyone, which is why we’ve listened to
calls from teachers and school leaders and are working with
Ofsted to make improvements to the
process.
Here we tell you everything you need
to know about the changes by Ofsted and why they’re
happening.
What Ofsted reforms have been
announced?
These reforms aim to reduce stress for
teachers and school leaders around inspection time, while making
sure school inspections are rigorous and
accurate.
The changes
include:
-
A consultation on the
complaints process.
Ofsted is launching a formal
consultation on changes to the complaints system, aimed at
resolving complaints made by schools more quickly through
improved dialogue and transparency. The administrative burden on
those making a complaint will be
reduced.
-
Changes to how Ofsted
inspects safeguarding.
At the moment, even when schools are
rated mostly as Good, if the school is rated as Inadequate on
safeguarding, the school will receive an Inadequate rating
overall. This is due to the importance of keeping children
safe.
But, in very rare cases where a school
fails because of safeguarding issues alone, Ofsted will now
follow-up with a monitoring visit within three months to provide
an opportunity for regrading. If the school has been able to
resolve the safeguarding concerns, it is likely to see its
overall grade improve.
Ofsted will also make safeguarding
requirements as clear as possible for schools and
parents.
-
Clarity around
confidentiality policies.
To reduce pressure on headteachers,
Ofsted will make it clear that they are allowed to share the
provisional outcomes of inspections privately with colleagues and
get support from them before the report is finalised and shared
with parents.
Ofsted reports will also talk about
what the school needs to do, to reduce public focus on
individuals, including headteachers.
-
Support for schools between
inspections.
Ofsted is giving schools more
information about the timing of their next inspection. Schools
will still get one day’s notice, but they will have more clarity
about the year they are likely to be inspected. This will be
particularly helpful for schools that have been exempt from
inspection for many years.
Outstanding schools
are inspected less frequently than those with lower ratings.
Outstanding schools that were last inspected before September
2015 are already receiving face-to-face seminars, to support them
when the time comes for a new
inspection.
When will these changes take
place?
Many of these changes, such as
increased clarity about the timing of the next inspection and
seminars for schools between inspections, will take effect
immediately or are already being implemented. The rest introduced
will be introduced from September
2023.
What other support is the
Department for Education providing for
teachers?
We’re building on commitments made to
improve teacher mental health in the Education Wellbeing Charter
by providing extra funding to expand the package of wellbeing
support for school leaders.
This will double our professional
supervision and counselling offer for this year, allowing
hundreds more school leaders to access
support.
Why is Ofsted making these
changes?
Ofsted ratings play an important role
in making sure education is the best it can be, as well as making
sure children are safe in
school.
However, we know that some teachers
and school leaders would like to see some changes to the way
inspections are carried out.
We want all school leaders to have
confidence in the inspection system, and for it to be as useful
as possible, for teachers, parents and children
alike.
These reforms will have a real
difference and will make sure that Ofsted continues to be a
valuable source of impartial information, which is trusted by
teachers and leaders.
Why isn’t Ofsted changing the
one-word rating system?
We believe that one-word ratings are
the clearest way to give parents confidence in choosing the right
school for their child.
More detailed information about Ofsted
inspections is easily accessible to everyone via Ofsted’s
website. Parents can search for specific school’s Ofsted
reports here to get all the
detail, as well as the overall
rating.
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