Ofsted has said its inspections programme has not altered in response to the coronavirus outbreak, amid concerns from teachers that it is carrying out “panic inspecting” before potential school closures.

Many teachers have expressed concern that there seem to be more inspections than usual this week on social media.

Rachel Rossiter, an assistant head in Suffolk, commented that her timeline “appears to be full of folk who have had The Call [from Ofsted announcing an imminent inspection] today,” adding, “It’s bizarre”.

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One teacher suggested a perceived rise in inspections was due to a need to carry them out “before school closures” while another described this as “panic inspecting”.

And teacher Mark Enser posted about an upcoming Ofsted inspection on Twitter, prompting one of his followers to suggest the inspectorate were “out in force” at present.

However, a spokesperson for Ofsted said: “There hasn’t been an unusual number of inspections this week.

“As expected it is business as usual - there has been no change to our normal programme of inspections.”

Ofsted would not give further details as to the number of inspections carried out this week and how it compared with previous periods. 

The spokesperson added that the inspectorate had not changed its programme of inspections because of the coronavirus and that all inspections were “pre-set” in advance. He said that Ofsted hoped teachers and senior leaders were not unduly worried.