NASUWT comments on Ofsted's annual report

Commenting on Ofsted’s Annual Report, published today, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said:

“It is clear from the report that the teaching profession continues to secure high quality learning experiences for children and young people. This is despite the continuing pressures teachers are facing in terms of depressed pay, excessive workload and the knock-on impact of the major recruitment and retention crisis.

“This success has been achieved despite the government’s education policies, not because of them and we see in Ofsted’s report some of the consequences of the government’s failure to exercise strategic leadership over the education system.

“Weaknesses in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, a lack of oversight over apprenticeships and the challenges faced by pupils with SEND are all a result of the government’s ideologically driven laissez faire approach to education.

“It is past time for the DfE to recognise that unless the government fulfils the critical responsibilities of the state, the problems and shortcomings in the system identified by Ofsted today will only persist, broaden and intensify.”