Ofsted has said it is aware of the extra pressure on teachers and leaders in the Covid pandemic but has claimed the best way for it to support schools is to carry on inspecting them.

The watchdog has responded to calls to put graded inspections on hold during the coronavirus crisis amid concerns that they are “toxic” to the wellbeing of headteachers.

The support service Headrest wrote to Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman and education secretary Nadhim Zahawi calling for routine graded inspections to be paused.

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Ofsted’s national director of education Chris Russell has responded to say that Ofsted is aware of the extra pressures on school staff, but that the inspectorate has taken this into account when inspecting schools.

The watchdog resumed a full programme of inspection in September for the first time since these were put on hold in March of last year after the onset of the Covid crisis.

In his letter, Mr Russell says: “We fully recognise that schools and colleges are operating in extraordinary times and have been for some time.

“This will, of course, have affected school leaders, teachers and staff in many different ways. Inspectors will always take time to understand and take account of all the different challenges schools are dealing with and how they are being affected by the pandemic.

“We are aware of the increased pressure on teachers and school leaders and have taken account of that in preparing to return to our full inspection programme. We piloted the return to full inspections and have adjusted the way in which we inspect to reflect the current circumstances while remaining true to the purpose and principles of the education inspection framework (EIF).

“Over the past year, the majority of schools have reported that Ofsted’s work helped support them in difficult times and was welcome. We are also receiving positive feedback about the impact of our work this term.”

The letter adds: “We also appreciate that acute current issues sometimes mean that we need to defer an inspection. We have amended our published deferral policy regularly throughout the pandemic to ensure that inspectors are able to respond sensitively when schools are facing particularly acute challenges.

“We believe that this process is working well, with most deferrals agreed and any proposal to reject a deferral carefully checked and moderated before being finalised.

“Despite the ongoing challenges, we believe that a return to routine EIF inspection is the best way for Ofsted to support the sector, and children and young people. We are confident that we can do this in a fair, manageable and safe way for schools and colleges.”

Ofsted has also faced calls to put routine inspections on hold from the NAHT school leaders’ union and to allow schools to halt inspections on request because of the pressures of Covid from the Association of School and College Leaders.

Headrest UK had warned that it was taking calls from school leaders who were considering leaving the profession amid the pressure of facing a full inspection during the Covid crisis.

It also said it was supporting heads who needed medication to manage their anxiety and workplace stress and that an impending Ofsted inspection was “often a key contributory factor”.

Headrest’s original letter to Ms Spielman and Mr Zahawi said: “Some callers are fearful that they will be branded failures by the inspectorate for being unable to deliver all the strategic tasks that in non-Covid times they would normally have completed by this stage of the academic year. To be blunt, they do not fully trust inspectors to comprehend and empathise with the pressure they have been under.

“Indeed we hear, from both additional inspectors and headteachers, that the practice of lead inspectors is hugely variable in this regard, and so this lack of trust is not without foundation. This fear is toxic to the maintenance of a healthy wellbeing.”