A new inspection regime introduced two-and-a-half years ago has made it more difficult for schools to be rated “very good” or “excellent” overall, say education directors and headteachers.

Figures uncovered by Tes Scotland show that whilst three-quarters of schools were rated “good” or better overall under the old inspection framework, that proportion has now dropped to around half of schools (roughly 58 per cent) under the new regime introduced at the start of the 2016-17 school year. There has been a drop in the number of schools being rated “very good”, and a rise in the number of schools rated just “satisfactory”.

Short read: Inspections: ‘Harsher’ school ratings revealed

Long read: Why do we bother with school inspections?

Background: ‘School-inspection ratings could be scrapped in Scotland’

A total of 28 per cent of primaries and 27 per cent of secondaries achieved a “very good” rating overall under the How Good Is Our School 3 (HGIOS 3) system over an eight-year period, but just 15 per cent of primaries and secondaries had done so up to May last year under its successor, How Good Is Our School 4 (HGIOS 4).

‘Tougher’ school inspections

When it came to the “satisfactory” rating, 19 per cent of primaries and secondaries were rated “satisfactory” under HGIOS 3, but a much larger proportion - 34 per cent and 32 per cent respectively - were rated “satisfactory” under HGIOS 4.

Under the current system, a school’s performance is rated at one of six levels: “unsatisfactory”, “weak”, “satisfactory”, “good”, “very good” or “excellent”.

Teachers and education directors have questioned the figures, arguing that schools cannot be getting worse if attainment is rising.

Tes Scotland understands that when HGIOS 4 was introduced, inspectors themselves made comments that it would be harder to be rated “good” or better under HGIOS 4, and that whilst a school might have got a “very good” under HGIOS 3, it could only be “good” under HGIOS 4.  

A spokesperson for the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) said directors were all for raising the bar, but the difference in the grades being awarded under the two regimes was too stark.

Meanwhile, the president of secondary headteachers’ organisation School Leaders Scotland said it was now tougher for schools to be rated “very good” or “excellent”.

Billy Burke, SLS president and the headteacher of Renfrew High in Renfrewshire, said: “There are definitely fewer ‘excellent’ and ‘very good’ grades in recent years than there would have been before.”

Mr Burke’s school was inspected last year and overall he said he had found the process to be fair. He also said that he liked the HGIOS 4 inspection framework and that because the context of education was shifting, you would expect the focus of inspection to also change.

However, he called for the use of the six ratings to be re-examined, given that it could look like a school was not progressing if its gradings had gone down, when actually the goalposts had shifted.

“The framework has changed but the six-point scale has not changed,” he added. “It would be useful to have a dialogue looking at what the grades achieve. The focus really should be on the schools’ self-evaluation and the capacity they have to take forward their next steps rather than just a handful of grades.”

An ADES spokesperson said: “We are supportive of raising expectations but there is clearly a disconnect between the way in which quality indicators have drifted and the overall evidence of improvement in educational outcomes nationally.”

An Education Scotland spokesperson said that inspectors have used the new quality indicators since the start of 2016-17.   

The spokesperson said: “Under HGIOS 4, inspectors grade a completely different set of quality indicators so it is not possible to make direct comparisons with inspection gradings under HGIOS 3.”

Under HGIOS 3 - based on 1,229 primary school inspections carried out between November 2008 and October 2016 - 3 per cent of primaries were rated “excellent” overall; 28 per cent were rated “very good”; 43 per cent were rated “good”; 19 per cent were rated “satisfactory”; 7 per cent were rated “weak”, and 0.4 per cent were rated “unsatisfactory”.

For secondaries under HGIOS 3 - based on 254 inspections carried out between November 2008 and October 2016 - the figures show that 4 per cent of schools inspected were rated “excellent” overall; 27 per cent were rated “very good”; 44 per cent were rated “good”; 19 per cent were rated “satisfactory”; and 6 per cent were rated “weak”. None were rated “unsatisfactory”.

Under HGIOS 4 - based on 173 primary school inspections carried out between October 2016 until May last year - 1 per cent of primaries were rated “excellent” overall; 15 per cent were rated “very good”; 41 per cent were rated “good”; 34 per cent were rated “satisfactory”; 8 per cent were rated “weak”, and 1 per cent were rated “unsatisfactory”.

Under HGIOS 4 - based on 31 secondary school inspections carried out between October 2016 to May last year - 2 per cent of secondaries were rated “excellent” overall; 15 per cent were rated “very good”; 42 per cent were rated “good”; 32 per cent were rated “satisfactory”; and 9 per cent were rated “weak”. No secondary was rated “unsatisfactory”.