The pressure that complaints are having on schools and trusts is a “significant concern” to multi-academy trusts (MATs), the national body representing MATs has warned Ofsted.
In its response to the school watchdog’s Big Listen consultation, which sought views from the sector on potential reforms to inspection, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) said that complaints were becoming an “increasing burden” on schools and trusts.
CST added that the problem is worsened by “overlapping responsibilities” between Ofsted inspectors, regulators and local authorities, which means that “schools are sometimes fielding the same complaint through multiple channels”.
The concerns come after Tes revealed that 8 in 10 school leaders have seen a rise in vexatious complaints over the past three years.
‘Significant concern’ over complaints burden
CST has also previously called for the Department for Education to make urgent changes to support schools in coping with a rising wave of parental complaints.
The body has “significant concern about the increasing burden that complaints are placing on schools and trusts”, CST wrote in its response to Ofsted’s consultation, which closed on 31 May 2024, warning that the issue is both a “driver of workload but also of stress in the system”.
CST has urged both Ofsted and the DfE to “develop a system for complaints handling that is clear to navigate for parents and others, and minimises unnecessary bureaucracy and duplication for schools and trust”.
Along with the NAHT school leaders’ union and the Association of School and College Leaders, CST has called on Ofsted to introduce reforms to single-word judgements and explore alternatives to the grading system.
The organisation is “not convinced that the current system of single-phrase judgements is appropriate or optimal for stakeholders or regulators, and we reiterate our previous calls for review and potential reform”, CST’s deputy CEO Steve Rollett wrote in the official response.
CST previously questioned the credibility and validity of Ofsted’s inspection grades, warning that the judgements can feel “arbitrary” to schools.
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats want to change the grading system, but the DfE has remained firm on keeping single-word judgements as part of the inspection regime.
CST added that, as Ofsted is not a regulator of schools, it does “not advocate trying to reposition Ofsted’s role but rather its footprint in the system”.
The potential challenges posed by the timing of the incoming general election were also noted - while the general election is on 4 July, the outcome of the Big Listen is not due until autumn.
CST urged Ofsted to ensure that phases of reform are “properly sequenced, coherent, well communicated and that schools are afforded the appropriate lead-in time the reform demand”.
MATs are ‘warm’ to trust inspection
CST acknowledged that the movement towards trust inspection is “inevitable”, and “many within the sector are warm to the notion”.
However, as Mr Rollett previously told MPs, CST does not believe that Ofsted currently has the “workforce expertise and legitimacy” to inspect school trusts.
“Time should be taken to grow understanding and build evidence of effective group practices. Therefore, inspection of groups is not something that should be rushed,” the organisation said in its consultation.
“We are not convinced that Ofsted currently has the workforce with the expertise and legitimacy to inspect groups, especially school trusts. Recruiting inspectors with experience of working in senior positions in school groups might be challenging.”
While Ofsted previously carried out summary evaluations of MATs, Tes revealed last year that these have been paused until further notice.
‘More to do’ on conduct of inspectors
Speaking more widely about inspectors, CST is also “concerned about the conduct of a minority of inspectors who engage with leaders in a way that can be dismissive or insensitive”.
“We recognise the work Ofsted has done to improve this, but we think there is more to do,” CST added.
In January, Ofsted chief Sir Martyn Oliver announced that Ofsted inspectors would have to undertake mental health training before resuming their inspection responsibilities.
“There may be more Ofsted can do to work with inspectors to avoid a culture of inspection which leans into an undue sense of jeopardy as a proxy for rigour,” the organisation said.
CST also warned that they have had “one or two pieces of feedback from trust leaders who have had negative experiences” of Ofsted’s pause policy.
Following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry last year, who took her own life after an Ofsted inspection that downgraded her school from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, Ofsted introduced a new “pause” policy.
Inspectors can now pause inspections where “a serious issue has been identified that requires substantial action to be taken”.
CST added: “We believe there should be a thorough review of how this approach is working, and how it has been received by leaders, so that it may be improved as necessary.”
Safeguarding inspection should remain with Ofsted
On safeguarding, CST believes that it would be “helpful to provide a separate judgement”. Inspectors currently judge whether a school’s safeguarding arrangements are “effective” as part of the wider inspection.
The advantage of having a separate safeguarding judgement “may be that this allows for the leadership and management judgement to work independently, potentially allowing for more nuanced reflections of school quality”, the organisation continued.
Labour has confirmed that it will introduce a separate safeguarding judgement as part of an annual check if it is elected into government.
However, CST does not agree that local authorities should be responsible for safeguarding inspections, as has previously been explored.
“It may be that Ofsted could work more closely with local authorities to understand and monitor how they enact their responsibilities, adding to greater assurance at system level without casting local authorities or some other body in the role of inspector”.
Ofsted has been approached for comment.
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