Ofsted has produced its latest annual report for the year when the inspectorate resumed its full inspection programme of schools for the first time since the Covid pandemic began.
This academic year has also seen the inspectorate carry out routine checks on “outstanding” schools for the first time in almost a decade after an exemption was lifted.
Here are the key findings from the report.
1. Majority of outstanding schools ‘declining’
Between 1 September 2021 and 31 March 2022, Ofsted inspected 328 previously exempt “outstanding” schools.
Schools that were last inspected before 2015 had full graded (section 5) inspections.
The report shows that just over a fifth of these schools inspected to date have remained “outstanding”, although most of the others were judged to be “good”.
However, around a fifth of schools received a judgement of “requires improvement”, with 1 in 25 receiving a judgement of “inadequate”.
Schools that were exempt for a shorter period, having been rated as “outstanding” between September 2015 and November 2020, received ungraded (section 8) inspections.
Ofsted found around four in 10 of these schools remained “outstanding”. Very few (four per cent) were considered to have concerns significant enough to trigger a full graded inspection.
However, six in 10 were identified by inspectors as “declining”. In these cases, Ofsted will carry out a full graded inspection when they next visit - around a year after the most recent inspection.
2. Illegal schools: 26 warning notices issued and legislation changing
Ofsted has carried out 135 inspections of suspected illegal schools and issued 26 warning notices this year. The inspectorate said that it had also worked with the Crown Prosecution Service on two successful prosecutions of illegal schools and an appeal.
The report adds: “We have continued to reinforce the need for changes to the law to strengthen our investigation powers, clarify registration requirements to close the loophole currently allowing some schools to evade registration, and expand the sentencing options available to magistrates following a prosecution.
“We have worked with the Department for Education on this for some time and were pleased to see it included in the Schools Bill.”
3. Inspectorate plans to produce more subject teaching reports
Ofsted has published a series of curriculum research reviews this year in science, religious education, mathematics, languages, geography, music, history and physical education.
The annual report says these reviews have been accessed almost 300,000 times.
Next year Ofsted has said it plans to “build on this work by publishing subject reports, which will set out our findings on the quality of subject education in schools”.
Ofsted has also used its research reviews to create subject-specific training modules for inspectors.
4. Ofsted launches inspector recruitment campaign as DfE asks for more school visits
Ofsted has been asked by the government to accelerate its inspection cycle to ensure all state schools are inspected by 2025. The annual report said this requires more resources.
It adds: “At the same time, following a period of exceptionally low turnover during the pandemic, we, like many other organisations, are now seeing turnover in some areas of our workforce return to, or go beyond, pre-pandemic levels.”
Ofsted said that in response to this it launched several inspector recruitment campaigns, “aiming to attract higher numbers of applicants while not reducing our high standards for those we appoint”.
The annual report said that “given the need to maintain high levels of recruitment and retention to deliver both our core work and Spending Review commitments, we have developed a longer-term strategy to help recruit and retain people with the right skills and experience”.
5. However, DfE has also asked the inspectorate to reduce its staffing levels
The annual report highlights how the government has announced its intention to reduce the size of the Civil Service to 2016 levels over the next three years.
Ofsted’s annual report said: “Like all government departments, we have been asked to draw up proposals for headcount reductions.
“We are working through this exercise, which could have implications for the new work agreed at the Spending Review.”
6. Covid and school leaders not returning to inspection led to missed targets
Ofsted said that its ability to meet its own internal inspection targets were hampered by Covid 19 and its knock-on effects.
It said inspector capacity was reduced by sickness and periods of isolation. Inspections were paused temporarily in December and Ofsted’s decision not to use part-time serving inspectors at the beginning of 2022 as the Omicron wave hit schools has reduced the watchdog’s capacity.
The report also notes that “these part-time inspectors have not fully returned to the levels of inspection that we routinely expect, as they have prioritised working in their own institutions”.
The annual report shows that Ofsted carried out 92 per cent of the state school inspections it planned in the year, 71 per cent of the private school inspections, 96 per cent of its SEND area inspections and 75 per cent of its initial teacher education provider inspections.
7. Vast majority of heads and two-thirds of teachers think their last Ofsted inspection was fair
Ofsted’s annual report said that its post-inspection surveys have shown consistently that over 90 per cent of leaders think that their recent inspection was fair and also that two-thirds of teachers think that their last inspection was a fair and accurate assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of their school.
The figure of 66 per cent of teachers thinking their school’s last inspection was a fair and accurate assessment was higher than any of the previous three years this was asked, in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Post inspection survey data is not available for 2020 or 2021 because of the Covid pandemic.
