Ofsted has put all evaluations of multi-academy trusts on hold until the end of this financial year, it has emerged.
The decision comes amid mounting pressure for Ofsted to be able to fully inspect MATs as they grow in influence and number.
The watchdog carried out 12 evaluations during the past academic year - with the most recent published in August - and has done 17 since these evaluations resumed after the pandemic.
But the inspectorate has now told Tes that no more evaluations will take place before the end of March. This means no reports will be published for at least seven months.
Ofsted does not receive any funding to evaluate MATs and Tes understands that it is focusing its funding on inspections that it has a statutory responsibility to carry out.
Tom Middlehurst, inspection specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The lack of MAT summary evaluations is likely to be the result of capacity issues in Ofsted.”
He said that “the world will keep spinning in the absence of Ofsted activity” but added: “If there are ever going to be trust-level inspections - and that is a moot point - then it probably would be a good idea if Ofsted gained a better understanding of how MATs operate and how inspections might work.”
Ofsted would need government to give it the power to fully inspect MATs. It currently carries out summary evaluations of MATs, producing trust-level findings and recommendations after inspections at schools in the same trust.
MATs have to agree to be involved and the report does not include an inspection grade.
Summary evaluations were paused during the pandemic and resumed in 2022.
Calls for Ofsted to inspect MATs
Ofsted has repeatedly called for MAT inspections to be introduced and Labour has said it will bring these in if it is elected.
Yesterday former Labour schools minister Lord Knight told MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee that there were concerns that Ofsted’s inspectors do not have the relevant experience to be able to carry out trust inspections.
Tes revealed in 2019 that, at the rate MAT evaluations were being carried out, it would take 80 years to get across the whole system. The watchdog has previously said that the “majority of MATs won’t be assessed” under the plans to evaluate trusts announced in 2018.
In the past six months, since Tes last analysed the evaluations that had been published following the pandemic, Ofsted has published six more MAT summary reports after inspections and visits carried out during the 2022-23 academic year.
Curriculum, exclusions and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision are all a key focus in the latest batch of MAT evaluations carried out by Ofsted.
Key findings from the latest MAT evaluations
Here are the main findings from the latest summary evaluations:
‘Ambitious’ curriculums highlighted
MAT approaches to curriculum feature prominently in the latest trust evaluations, which have been carried out in line with the focus of the Education Inspection Framework that Ofsted uses to inspect schools.
“Ambitious” is a key word used by the watchdog to describe the curriculum approach of some of the trusts it has looked at.
For example, Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, which operates 17 schools in the Bath and Somerset area, was praised by Ofsted for its “centrally planned curriculum”, which was said to be well organised and sequenced for primary and secondary phases.
Astrea Academy Trust, which runs 26 academies, mainly in Yorkshire, was also commended for its “ambitious” curriculum, which was said to be increasingly embedded across schools.
The Diocese of Chelmsford Vine Schools Trust, which runs 23 primaries in Chelmsford, was also acknowledged for its ambitious curriculum but Ofsted said that leaders in the trust still have “more to do” to ensure that ambitions for curriculum design are “widely understood” and “applied across the breadth of the curriculum”.
Focus on exclusions and suspensions
The issue of pupil exclusions and suspensions is highlighted in a number of the Ofsted MAT evaluations.
As reported earlier this year, in the case of Astrea Academy Trust, Ofsted said that “incidences of suspensions and permanent exclusions, although still too high, are decreasing”.
This evaluation also noted that the trust’s leaders were implementing bespoke provision to ensure that these pupils complete the academic year in their individual schools. It also highlighted how the trust has introduced a “management information system” that enables analysis of pupils who have had repeated suspensions and are at risk of permanent exclusion.
This Ofsted finding about Astrea was criticised at the time by the Department for Education’s behaviour adviser, Tom Bennett, who said: “There is no ‘right’ number of exclusions beyond ‘was every one necessary?’ If yes then it’s the right number. Some schools serve highly challenging cohorts and need to exclude more.”
At Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, Ofsted noted that schools inspected in the first stage of the summary evaluation received “good” or “outstanding” judgements for behaviour and attitudes.
The evaluation added: “However, trust leaders are not complacent. They acknowledge the ongoing need to reduce suspensions and improve attendance further, especially for a minority of disadvantaged pupils and for boys.” The trust told Tes that suspension levels were already below the national average.
A summary evaluation of Agora Learning Partnership, which runs nine academies in Hertfordshire, said the trust has invested in staff expertise to meet the needs of pupils who were at risk of exclusion.
Positive reports on SEND provision
Agora Learning Partnership was evaluated in January 2023 but only had its report published in May. It has a higher proportion of pupils who receive SEND support - 17.3 per cent, four percentage points more than the national average.
In its summary evaluation, Ofsted praised the trust’s “commitment” to “supporting the success and achievement” of pupils with SEND, which it called “well defined”. This included support for disadvantaged pupils.
The watchdog also said that Astrea had “clear, trust-wide strategies” for identifying pupils with SEND, which involved assessing the pupils’ needs and “quality assuring the impact of actions taken”.
Leadership praised
In the latest batch of reports, trust leadership was mostly commended by Ofsted. The watchdog noted in its summary evaluation of Liverpool Diocesan Schools Trust, which runs 17 academies, that leaders “clearly understood” the trust’s vision and values, and “leadership development is a high priority”.
The watchdog similarly praised Astrea Academy Trust for the “professional development” opportunities offered to staff, which included the trust’s Astrea Talent Programme, which was created to “give all staff a career progression route through the trust”.
Chelmsford Diocese was another trust that Ofsted said provided “direct leadership” - an area it noted the trust had specifically improved in. This was said to be in part down to the “effective use of mentoring” and “peer coaching” that had “provided secure models for the ongoing development of leadership at all levels”.
A spokesperson for Astrea Academy Trust said: “Ofsted’s evaluation is overwhelmingly positive and recognises the dedication and commitment of the staff right across the trust, the speed at which they are working to improve behaviour, and for the expertise and support given to individual schools by leaders.
“The areas highlighted for improvement were areas we had identified and shared with Ofsted during the process of the MAT summary evaluation, and we have a clear plan of action to address these. We were delighted that Ofsted concluded that Astrea is a ‘strong and improving trust’, where ‘pupils are at the heart of everything and leaders demonstrate integrity and act with moral purpose’.”
Alun Williams, chief executive of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, said its evaluation was extremely positive, with the trust being described as “high performing”.
He added: “The report picked out the very many positives of a very successful trust, particularly the role of all leaders at trust and school level. Our work to ensure the highest standards in behaviour and attitudes was also highlighted and praised. Suspensions are actually largely below national rates for the trust schools, but we always seek to reduce these as much as possible.”
