Ofsted has delayed more than 550 state school inspections after pausing to allow inspectors to complete mental health training, a report published today shows.
The watchdog’s annual accounts for 2023-24 show it is behind on its internal inspection targets for state schools, private schools and further education providers.
New chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver delayed the resumption of inspections at the start of this year to ensure inspectors received mental health training, after a coroner’s report warned of a risk of future deaths following an inquest into headteacher Ruth Perry’s death.
The annual report and accounts for 2023-24 provide an overview and breakdown of the watchdog’s activity and finances for the past year.
Here are seven key insights from the report.
1. Ofsted behind its own inspection target
“This year, our inspection delivery was slightly lower than anticipated in some types of provision we inspect because we paused routine inspections between December 2023 and January 2024,” the report said.
The school watchdog said that the pause was to enable all inspectors to receive mental health awareness training, and added that the delayed inspections will be prioritised in 2024-25.
In the final week of inspections in December 2023, Ofsted said that any school who wishes to defer could do so. This followed an inquest finding that inspection contributed to the death of Mrs Perry.
“Between December 2023 and January 2024, 559 planned inspections were delayed while we took immediate action in response to the Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths issued by HM Coroner,” Ofsted said in its report.
Although Ofsted has now caught up on 142 of these inspections, there remains a shortfall of 417 (six per cent) inspections at the end of the year, according to the inspectorate’s report.
Ofsted had planned to carry out 7,113 state-funded school inspections in 2023-24, but completed 6,696 inspections in total.
For independent schools, 508 inspections were planned and 420 were carried out in total.
This was “a combination of the delayed inspections mentioned above and some schools closing or transferring to another inspectorate”, according to Ofsted.
2. Ofsted carrying out complaints review pilot
Ofsted also confirmed that, this summer, it will pilot a “new periodic review of a sample of closed complaints using external representatives from the sectors we inspect”.
“We will continue to keep these new arrangements under review,” the school watchdog added.
The report notes that following a public consultation in 2023, Ofsted introduced new post-inspection and complaints-handling processes.
3. More than 1 in 4 school complaints upheld or partly upheld
Out of 8,360 school inspections, there were 280 complaints received in 2023-24, the report revealed.
“We continue to receive disproportionately more complaints from providers that have received the lowest grades,” Ofsted said in its report.
More than half (319 of 563) of complaints from providers this year had been judged as “inadequate” or “requires improvement”.
Of 398 complaints from schools that were closed in 2023-24 - which included some carried over from the previous year - a quarter (27 per cent) were either upheld/partially upheld.
Just three schools had a change of judgement as a result of the complaint and for another four schools the inspection was regarded as incomplete as a result of complaint.
4. Warnings over legal loopholes for unregistered schools
The report raised concerns over the impact that the dropping of the Schools Bill, which was scrapped in December 2022, had on its checks on unregistered schools.
The bill included plans to “close loopholes in the registration system and to strengthen Ofsted’s powers to investigate unregistered schools”, the report said.
It added: “Coverage of the Schools Bill drew attention to the legislative loopholes that prevent us from prosecuting some of the worst unregistered provision we encounter.
“These loopholes are now more widely known within the sector and continue to hamper our efforts to investigate unregistered schools and prosecute offenders,” the school watchdog warned.
Ofsted opened more than 230 investigations into potential unregistered schools, carried out 129 inspections and issued 25 warning notices.
The report adds that of the 23 unregistered schools that received a warning notice, 13 are now operating within the law, two have closed and the rest remain under investigation.
5. Only 4 MAT summary evaluations carried out in 2023-24
Ofsted only carried out four multi-academy trust summary evaluations in 2023-24 which are ungraded visits to trusts following inspections of schools run by that trust.
“Due to this small number, we did not receive enough data from these to report findings from surveys,” the report said.
Last year, Tes revealed that Ofsted had paused these MAT checks until at least April 2024.
The watchdog paused the programme in October 2023 because of a need to focus on statutory inspections, the report added and noted that Ofsted does not receive specific funding to carry out summary evaluations.
Ofsted does not inspect MATs but has been carrying out summary evaluations which are voluntary and do not result in an inspection judgement.
The new Labour government has confirmed that it will bring in MAT inspections in the King’s Speech this week.
6. Sir Martyn paid less than predecessor
The report also confirms that Sir Martyn’s annual salary was around £40,000 lower than that of his predecessor Amanda Spielman.
Sir Martyn, who replaced Ms Spielman at the start of 2024, was paid between £40,000 and £45,000 for the three months to the end of March. The accounts note that his full-year equivalent salary is between £160,000 and £165,000.
Ms Spielman was paid between £160,000 and £165,000 for her time as chief inspector for nine months of 2023. Her full-year equivalent salary for Ofsted in 2023-24 was between £200,00 and £205,000.
7. Ofsted funding down in real terms since 2010
In a foreword to the report, Sir Martyn notes that Ofsted funding is 29 per cent lower in real terms than it was in 2009-10.
He added: “Over the same period, we have rightly been asked to do significantly more”.
The report adds that in 2023-24, Ofsted saw a modest increase in funding.
It said this was partly down to additional commitments agreed as part of the Spending Review, including accelerating the inspection of schools, and registering and inspecting supported accommodation providers.
The report said: “However, our funding for school inspection is still only around 0.1 per cent of the overall schools budget - 75 per cent less than 20 years ago.”
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