Outgoing Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman has warned that the pandemic has left a “troublesome legacy” for schools, citing lower attendance, poorer behaviour and friction between parents and schools.
The social contract between parents and schools has been “fractured”, Ms Spielman said today in Ofsted’s 2022-23 annual report.
“Unfortunately, there is ample evidence that this contract has been fractured, both in absenteeism and in behaviour,” she said.
“Restoring this contract is vital to sustaining post-pandemic progress, but is likely to take years to rebuild fully.”
Ofsted’s annual report also warns that staff shortages in schools are reducing expert teaching, which has led to “increasing stress, limiting intervention when children struggle and creating a barrier to teachers accessing training and development”.
The report also states that high demand for special education needs and disabilities (SEND) and mental health services is “particularly straining limited resources”.
This is Ms Spielman’s last annual report as chief inspector, with her seven-year term coming to an end this year. She will be replaced by Sir Martyn Oliver in January 2024.
Ms Spielman said: “The pandemic, with all its disruptions, has of course overshadowed this period and left a troublesome legacy.
“This is evident not just in the educational and developmental gaps that some children are still struggling with but also in a fracturing of the traditional social contract between schools and families.
“We see its impact in lower school attendance, poorer behaviour and friction between parents and schools. Restoring this contract is vital to sustaining the progress we’ve seen.”
School absence is flagged by the annual report as a “stubborn problem” since the pandemic, particularly in secondary schools. The report noted that both “overall absence” and “persistent and severe absences” are too high.
Another key area Ofsted remains concerned about is behavioural issues, which accounted for nearly half the reasons recorded for suspensions.
Increased school inspections
The report said that Ofsted has carried out the “highest number of inspections completed in the last five years”, with the watchdog conducting 7,240 inspections of state-funded schools in 2022-23.
This followed the government increase in the inspectorate’s funding to ensure all state schools were inspected between 2021 and 2025.
Ofsted reported that 89 per cent of all schools had been judged “good” or “outstanding” at their most recent inspection, a slight increase from 88 per cent at the end of last year.
The report shows that three-quarters (75 per cent) of schools previously judged as “requires improvement” (RI) have improved to “good” or “outstanding”. Of the schools that had an existing RI judgement, 22 per cent remained in this category.
The Department for Education can intervene in underperforming schools as a result of Ofsted judgements.
Since September 2022, this policy has applied to all “inadequate” schools but now also applies to schools that are judged as “requires improvement” and those who were judged “inadequate” at their previous inspection having been judged as “requires improvement” previously.
The number of schools eligible for intervention has decreased to 1,340 (6 per cent of all schools) at year end from 1,610 at the end of last year, Ofsted’s report said.
