A headteachers’ leader has suggested scrapping Ofsted grades and reforming inspections so that they focus on multi-academy trusts (MATs) rather than individual schools.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders has warned that the current Ofsted inspection system does not work well and leads to reputations being shredded and careers being ended.
He said the system faces a fundamental problem because the vast majority of heads do not think that the inspectorate consistently, fairly or accurately judges the quality of learning in school.
In a blog, Mr Barton suggests removing graded judgements from inspection reports as part of a wider move towards a school system led by multi-academy trusts.
His comments come as ASCL Council, the union’s policymaking body, works to develop a plan for the future of inspection.
The government has already said in its White Paper that it will look at the role of inspection of MATs as part of a regulatory review into trusts, which is expected to be launched soon.
In his new blog, Mr Barton is strongly critical of the existing school inspection system.
Lack of confidence in Ofsted a ‘fundamental problem’
He said: “The truth is that Ofsted disproportionately dominates our educational landscape and, frankly, doesn’t work well. We know from our surveys of ASCL members that the vast majority of school and college leaders do not think that it consistently, fairly and accurately judges the performance of something as complex as learning in a school or college.
“And this surely amounts to a fundamental problem. It means that a profession engaged in such an important public service - educating the nation’s children and young people - comprehensively lacks confidence in the body responsible for overseeing standards.
“This is before we even get on to the madness of an inspection system whose negative judgements stigmatise schools and make it harder to secure the improvement needed by those institutions, and the pupils, families and communities they serve.”
Mr Barton described this as “a vicious circle that neither the government nor Ofsted seems capable of acknowledging, much less fixing.”
ASCL Council is examining the current school inspection system and looking at how it could be improved upon.
Mr Barton said the aim was for a system that was “more proportionate, more consistent and ultimately works better for parents, schools and the communities they serve”.
The general secretary said that ASCL would not be calling for Ofsted to be abolished because oversight of education is crucial.
However, he suggested ways in which the current system could be reformed alongside the Department for Education’s aims to move all schools into multi-academy trusts by 2030.
‘Reputations are shredded by Ofsted inspections’
Mr Barton said that one of the problems with the current system “is the fact that it carries such high stakes”.
He continued: “Reputations are shredded by Ofsted inspections, careers are ended and, at the very least, school communities brace themselves for the negative and distracting impact of a visit by inspectors.
“So, one way of improving inspections would be to take some of the heat out of them. And a route to achieving this end could be to scrap the obsession with graded judgements.
“We know from opinion polls that parents like the concept of inspection. But that doesn’t mean they agree that something as complex as a school can be neatly reduced to one of four categories.”
Mr Barton suggested that inspectors could give a narrative judgement setting out what the school is doing well and what it is not yet doing well enough.
He adds: “If the school in question urgently requires further support, inspectors would spell this out, with a follow-up visit in, say, six months and then a year’s time to check that the actions needed to effect improvement have happened, that impact is emerging.”
ASCL’s general secretary said these inspection changes would fit in well with the government’s plan for a fully MAT-led system because it would be up to trusts to deliver the support identified.
Mr Barton added: “Gone would be the cliff edges of the current system of graded judgements, the stigmatising impact of a negative label being applied to schools, and instead we might have a system which is built more around helping schools to improve and less around punishment.”
His blog points out that the final recommendations from ASCL Council might be different to the reforms he has outlined.
Ofsted declined to comment.
