Consultation on the next school inspection framework and the new report card system should not be left to Ofsted to lead and design “behind closed doors”, a leading education union figure has warned.
Ofsted announced yesterday that formal consultation on a new system of school inspection would start from around Christmas, with a set of proposals set to be tested next year before being rolled out in September 2025.
This came after the government announced that Ofsted’s overall single-word judgements had been scrapped with immediate effect, to be replaced by school report cards in 2025-26.
So far it is unclear exactly how the consultation on the changes will be led and carried out.
But James Bowen, assistant general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, has raised concerns that the schools’ sector might only be properly consulted once a framework is “virtually complete”.
Fears over school inspection reform
He said: “The interim measure of removing headline grades is a major step in the right direction. However, what’s probably even more important is what happens next. This should be seen as just the first step towards the more significant reform of inspection that the government has committed to.
“It’s crucial that the new model of inspection is not designed behind closed doors by Ofsted themselves. In the past we have seen frameworks designed precisely like that, with the profession only consulted once it is virtually complete.”
Mr Bowen told Tes that there now needed to be “a clear break from the past”, adding: “We need a fundamentally different approach to school inspection that commands the confidence of the profession, and that will only happen if it’s designed in partnership.”
He said that although the sector wanted a new inspection system implemented as soon as possible, it was more important that it should be done properly.
At a press conference announcing inspection changes earlier this week, chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said there would be informal consultation between now up to around Christmas. Then, between Christmas and Easter, there would be formal consultation, before piloting and inspector training in order to deliver new inspections by September 2025.
Ofsted and the Department for Education have been approached for comment.
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