Ofsted inspectors will stop conducting subject deep dives during ungraded inspections from September, the watchdog’s chief inspector has announced today.

Speaking to delegates at the NAHT school leaders’ union conference this morning, Sir Martyn Oliver said that feedback from small primary schools has led to the change, which will affect 40 per cent of all school inspections.

“For too many of you, it feels as though inspection is designed for large secondary schools, not small primaries,” he told school leaders in Newport today.

Ungraded inspections will be more like monitoring visits

An ungraded inspection, also known as a “Section 8”, does not result in a graded judgement.

However, if Ofsted finds evidence that the school would likely receive a higher or lower grade, it will carry out a subsequent graded inspection.

During deep dives, Ofsted chooses a group of subjects to scrutinise by talking to leaders, teachers and pupils, conducting joint lesson visits with school leaders and looking at pupils’ work.

However, some primary leaders have warned that they are expected to have a deeper knowledge of subject areas than their setting allows them to.

From September, school leaders will instead have the opportunity to discuss their school’s strengths and areas for development with inspectors. This is part of Sir Martyn’s aim to make “ungraded inspections feel more like monitoring visits”, he said.

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Although the Ofsted chief said that the changes to deep dives do not “preclude further changes to our inspections in future”, he admitted that it is not “helpful to try to cram all the detail of a full, graded inspection into an ungraded one”.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said that “the removal of deep dives from section 8 inspections is a welcome and positive move”.

NAHT welcomes changes to ungraded inspections

Mr Whiteman said that the NAHT had “long argued that the deep dive approach is not well suited to primary schools, and especially small primary schools”, where they can “really stretch resources”.

The sector has previously expressed concern over how primary schools are inspected, with a Tes investigation revealing that small primaries are five times more likely to be graded “inadequate” by the watchdog.

Mr Whiteman added that the union was “pleased Ofsted has listened” and that he hoped “this is the start of an ongoing process of reform when it comes to how schools are inspected”.

In place of the deep dives, Mr Martyn said that inspectors will use extended learning walks to consider the impact of the curriculum and pupils’ personal development.

Safeguarding arrangements, behaviour and attendance will continue to be evaluated in the same way, he added.

The move comes during Ofsted’s ongoing Big Listen consultation exercise that runs until the end of May.

Responses to the Big Listen, currently totalling over 15,000, will be assessed over the summer, with Ofsted’s response to be announced in the autumn.

Ofsted establishing external groups for advice

Sir Martyn also announced today that Ofsted will be establishing “external reference groups, which will give us independent advice and challenge on some of the most significant issues in our sector”.

“These will include curriculum, teaching and assessment, behaviour and attendance, inclusion, and how we use our regulatory powers and insights for the good of children,” he told delegates.

His announcement comes after the watchdog confirmed that Dame Christine Gilbert will lead an independent review into Ofsted’s response to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.

Earlier this year, a coroner concluded that an Ofsted inspection contributed to Ms Perry’s death.

Wider remodelling of whole accountability system

Sir Martyn also used his speech to acknowledge the debate over single-word grades, saying: “I know some of you would like us to make changes to our gradings as part of a future system.”

However, he warned that any changes will need to be a “government decision” and “would need to align with a bigger, wider remodelling of the whole accountability system”.

Speaking after the chief inspector, Mr Whiteman said that Sir Martyn had missed the argument that single-grade judgements carry “danger”.

However, directly addressing Sir Martyn, Mr Whiteman said that the union could not hold the chief inspector “accountable for the actions of the government”.

During his speech, the chief inspector also warned schools of “consequences for those that push children out”.

He said that off-rolling is wrong, and added that “it can come in many forms, including putting children or families off before they even apply”.

Speaking to journalists after his speech, Mr Oliver said Ofsted already looks at this area as part of inspections but said it is “something that I want to pay even more attention to going forward”.

Importance of schools remaining inclusive

He said reports that he is hearing as part of the Big Listen exercise that schools are putting off families from applying because they can’t meet particular needs “troubles me greatly”.

Sir Martyn added that he wants to “make sure that Ofsted supports leaders to make the right decisions for their community, and when they have to take tough decisions for those children, that they’re not then forgotten about, but they also go on to get high [standards of] education and high standards of care, however that’s delivered”.

He added that schools need to know that it’s “important for them to remain inclusive” to think about whether they are a “net receiver or a net giver” of pupils.

Concluding his speech, Sir Martyn expressed a need to go beyond identifying problems in the school inspection system.

“Of course, we need to identify the problems, and be vocal about finding the solutions. Of course we do,” he told delegates.

“But if that’s all we do, if we only talk about the negatives, the stresses, the things that make us want to give up, well then we risk putting off a generation of brilliant and inspiring teachers.”