Commenting following Ofsted's response to its Big Listen
consultation, Pepe Di'Iasio, General Secretary of the Association
of School and College Leaders said:
“Many of the recommendations in this response, some of which are
coming in with immediate effect, are very welcome. In particular,
the greater focus on inclusion and SEND, better training and
support for Ofsted inspectors to improve consistency of
inspection, and a shift away from graded judgements reflect the
views of school leaders. There are some very bold ideas in the
response, including notifying all schools by Monday afternoon of
the week they'll be inspected, with all routine inspections
happening on Tuesday and Wednesday; introducing area insights
into the proposed new report cards, which will help contextualise
school performance; and introducing six new national hubs aimed
at making inspection fairer and more transparent.
“However, school leaders will understandably be concerned about
the timescales and pace of reform, and whether the changes go far
enough. Earlier this week, the government confirmed that new
accountability report cards will be introduced from September
2025, but Ofsted have said it will only start consultation on a
new inspection framework in early 2025. This comes at a time when
the government is about to launch its review into curriculum and
assessment, which includes changes to performance measures in its
scope. There is a danger that these reforms will not be joined
up, and that a rush to do something different will undermine
their effectiveness.
“Ofsted certainly needs reform, and their response sets out a
blueprint for what changes we can expect, but we absolutely must
avoid replacing one flawed system with another one.”
