The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has today
published a response to the proposed changes to Ofsted’s
post-inspection arrangements and complaints handling. The
proposals, which ASCL strongly welcomes, include new routes to
challenge inspection outcomes and the opportunity for providers
to contact Ofsted the day after an inspection if they have
unresolved concerns. ASCL believes that this is a step in the
right direction, but there is much more work that needs to be
done to create a fairer inspection system that has the trust of
the whole profession.
Tom Middlehurst, Inspection Specialist at the Association of
School and College Leaders, said: “The current complaints system
is extremely convoluted, and school and college leaders tell us
that they find it very difficult to successfully challenge an
inspection outcome. These proposals will go some way towards
supporting leaders during and after an inspection. As they will
take time to be confirmed and implemented, we would urge Ofsted
to follow the spirit of the proposals in the meantime.
“These changes are very welcome but represent only modest
improvements to an inspection system that all too often produces
judgements which are unreliable and unfair. The single biggest
positive change that could be made is the removal of the overall
effectiveness grading, which is often the largest point of
contention in any complaint. These judgements can be
reductionist, misleading and damaging to the mental health and
wellbeing of staff. Switching to narrative judgements, which
identify a school or college’s strengths and weaknesses, would
build much-needed resilience into the inspection system and be
far more informative for parents and other stakeholders. Ofsted
and the Department for Education must consult on this change as
soon as possible.”
ASCL’s full consultation response is available here.
