MPs are set to question representatives of teaching unions, parents, pupils and governors about their experiences of Ofsted at the first evidence session of an official inquiry next week.
The Commons Education Select Committee is set to investigate the value of single-word Ofsted judgements and the impact of inspection on teacher workload and wellbeing in the first of its hearings on the inspectorate.
The session, which takes place on Tuesday next week, will hear from Daniel Kebede, the new general secretary of the NEU teaching union; Steve Rollett, deputy chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts; and inspection specialists from the two main school leader unions.
The committee said that it has “received mixed evidence as to whether Ofsted helps schools improve, and whether their feedback is useful to school leaders and teachers”.
The inquiry was launched earlier this year amid widespread concern about the impact of Ofsted following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry and debate about the future of school inspection.
In the first panel session, MPs will question union representatives about their concerns regarding Ofsted and recommendations for change.
The cross-party committee has said MPs could ask the witnesses about the value of inspection reports and school feedback, the structure and impact of Ofsted’s system of one-word judgements, and inspections’ impact on the workload and wellbeing of teachers and pupils.
Ofsted inspections under scrutiny
It also said it expects Ofsted’s current Education Inspection Framework, introduced in 2019, to be up for discussion
Experts giving evidence include Tom Middlehurst, inspection specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders; Ian Hartwright, the head of policy at the NAHT; and Jason Elson, the chief executive of Parentkind.
The inquiry was announced in June after Ofsted faced months of increased pressure from schools following the death of Ms Perry.
The family of the Berkshire headteacher said earlier this year that she took her own life after an Ofsted inspection of her school, which downgraded it from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.
The news of her death prompted calls for inspections to be paused and reformed, and for single-word school inspection grades to be dropped.
Labour has said that it will consult on scrapping single-word inspection judgements for schools and replacing them with a scorecard.
It has now been confirmed that Sir Martyn Oliver will be the chief inspector of Ofsted from next year.
