Ofsted is set to push ahead with a shake-up of its complaints process that will allow schools to raise concerns to an independent adjudicator more quickly, the watchdog’s national director for education has said.
Chris Russell told the Schools and Academies Show that some of Ofsted’s planned changes to how it handles complaints have been “very well received” during piloting and consultation and will now be put into practice in the coming months.
The changes he highlighted included being able to issue a complaint to an independent adjudicator more quickly and also being able to have a conversation with Ofsted about the complaint.
Earlier this year the watchdog announced plans for its current three-step complaints process to be replaced by a system that would allow schools to complain formally and to an independent adjudicator more quickly.
It launched a consultation on its complaints shake-up alongside a major announcement about how it plans to change its work in response to the strength of feeling shown by teachers and school leaders following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Ofsted changing its complaints process
However, sector leaders warned at the time that the proposals did not go far enough because they do not allow for an independent body to reopen or overturn Ofsted inspections.
Under the current system, schools that are unhappy with how Ofsted has handled a complaint are expected to go through an internal review process with the inspectorate. Schools can then contact the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted (ICASO) to ask for an independent review of how their complaint was handled if they feel it has not been resolved.
Mr Russell said that going through the “layers” of Ofsted’s current complaints process “if anything, contributes to people’s frustration, so if you’re not happy it is much better to accelerate the process to begin with”.
He added: “And part of that is the ability to go to the independent stage at a much earlier stage in the process.”
Mr Russell said this plan was “extremely well received” during Ofsted’s consultation, the outcome of which is set to be published “over the next few days.
Mr Russell added that the watchdog would look to put those changes into practice “in the coming months”.
Direct dialogue with inspectors
Ofsted’s proposals include improving the opportunities for on-site dialogue between schools and inspectors.
Mr Russell said that during a pilot of Ofsted’s planned changes, “people found it reassuring that if you weren’t happy with your inspection, you got to see your HMI and go straight to tell them your concern”.
During his speech at the Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham on Wednesday, he also highlighted Ofsted’s plan to allow people to speak to a member of staff about the complaint as part of the process.
He said: “We’ve also brought back something that we lost a number of years ago, which was actually if you complain, obviously you put the paperwork in, but...sometimes you want to tell somebody about it.
“Sometimes what people have written actually loses the nuance of what they’re really concerned about...and a conversation helps just to frame that. As part of the proposals, we have brought this back in.”
When Ofsted announced its planned changes earlier this year, it said they would involve schools being able to contact Ofsted the day after the end of an inspection visit to discuss any unresolved issues.
It said these calls would be directed to an inspector who is relevant to the type of inspection but not part of the team that carried out the visit.
Ofsted said this call could involve schools raising informal concerns about the inspection process and its likely outcome querying what happens next or highlighting information that they feel was “not fully considered during the inspection”.
