Ofsted and the Education Select Committe

Date: 04.03.2024

Overnight, 1200 teachers told us what they thought of the select committee's report into Ofsted, following the death of Ruth Perry.

Headlines

Teachers were unconvinced by Ofsted’s announced changes following Ruth Perry’s death a year ago.
They do not want more in-depth inspections, especially primary teachers.
Less frequent inspections of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ schools are to be welcomed – it would mean an overall decrease.
Extending the notice period would improve the fairness of inspections, though impact on workload is less clear.
Staff need better opportunities to contribute their views to Ofsted as part of the inspection process.
Lack of relevant expertise among inspectors is an issue for most schools, especially (as the Committee notes) for primary.
Reports are not very good at identifying areas that need to be addressed and are even worse at supporting schools in addressing them.
The current single-word grade very clearly needs to be replaced.

Read the full report here: