Half of adults in Great Britain have little to no confidence in Ofsted ratings to provide an accurate assessment of how good a school is, a new YouGov survey published today suggests.

This includes one-third of respondents (34 per cent) who said they were “not very” confident and one in seven (16 per cent) who were “not at all” confident.

Just under three in 10 (28 per cent) did have confidence in Ofsted ratings, including 5 per cent who were “very” confident and just under a quarter (23 per cent) who were “fairly” confident.

• Inquiry: MPs to examine Ofsted’s use of single-word grades
• Change: Ofsted consults on overhaul of complaints process
• Reaction: Call for inspections to be halted following death of Ruth Perry

YouGov asked the question: “How confident are you, if at all, that Ofsted ratings have been an accurate assessment of how good a school is?”

Its findings are based on responses from 3,201 adults from Great Britain yesterday.

Figures for people polled in England - where Ofsted is responsible for school inspection - were very similar to the overall picture across Great Britain.

In England the figures for those with little or no confidence were the same (not very confident: 34 per cent; not at all confident: 16 per cent.)

There was a marginally higher proportion of people in England - 29 per cent - who had confidence in Ofsted’s ratings.

Broken down by regions of the UK, 40 per cent of Londoners said they were “fairly” or “very confident” in Ofsted ratings - the highest confidence levels seen in the country.

The responses for England were then spilt between the rest of the South, the Midlands and the North.

Ofsted under pressure

Respondents in the North had the lowest confidence levels in the country. YouGov data shows that 36 per cent of those polled were not very confident and another 16 per cent were not at all confident that Ofsted ratings have been an accurate assessment of how good a school is.

The survey comes after intense debate about Ofsted’s inspection practices following the death of primary headteacher Ruth Perry.

Her family have said that she took her own life after an inspection in which she was told her school was to be downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

Ofsted revealed a raft of planned changes this week to address concerns in the sector, but school leaders’ unions and Ms Perry’s family have said these don’t go far enough.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan had announced that immediate change was coming to Ofsted last week but she has defended the inspectorate’s continued use of one-word grading for schools, saying that this is “clear” and “easy for parents to navigate”.

Earlier today the Commons Education Select Committee launched an inquiry into Ofsted school inspections, which will look at the watchdog’s use of single-word gradings and the impact of inspection on teacher workload and wellbeing.

Today’s survey follows YouGov data published last month, which showed that 90 per cent of teachers had an unfavourable view of Ofsted, including 67 per cent who had a “very unfavourable” view.

Ofsted has been contacted for comment.