Key facts
- England's school inspection system is set for another overhaul due to complaints about stress and mental health.
- Education Secretary Lucy Powell wants Ofsted to revise the inspection framework.
- The changes will focus on better accounting for students' social and economic backgrounds.
- The current system's ratings may remain, but how they are applied will be adjusted.
- A previous headteacher's death prompted earlier changes to the inspection framework.
- Two-thirds of surveyed school staff found the new regime as bad or worse than the previous one.
England's school inspection system is to be overhauled for the second time in just over a year, following significant criticism that the current framework is causing excessive stress and negatively impacting teachers' mental health. Education Secretary Lucy Powell has directed the schools regulator, Ofsted, to "go back to the drawing board" on certain aspects of the inspection process.
Powell is concerned that changes implemented under her predecessor, Bridget Phillipson, are creating difficulties for headteachers. While the core rating system, which scores schools from "exceptional" to needing "urgent improvement" across six key areas, is likely to remain, Powell wants inspectors to place greater emphasis on the social and economic backgrounds of schools and their pupils. This shift aims to address concerns that the current framework may disadvantage schools in more challenging contexts.
Sources indicate that a particular focus for revision will be how Ofsted measures inclusion. The current system has faced criticism for fairness and comparability, with leaders in disadvantaged areas or those with higher numbers of students with special educational needs (Send) feeling they are at a systemic disadvantage. A survey of National Education Union members found that two-thirds of school staff felt the new regime was as bad or worse than the previous one, and three-quarters reported negative impacts on their mental health.
Previous changes to the inspection framework were implemented after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, who had been subjected to an Ofsted inspection. Her sister, Julia Waters, has reported that at least a dozen teachers have felt "suicidal" due to Ofsted inspections. A study by former Ofsted inspector Steve Wren found that schools with higher levels of children receiving free school meals or Send support tended to receive lower ratings, suggesting a potential bias in the framework.