Ofsted would only be able to resume routine inspections of “outstanding” schools if the DfE gives it more resources, the chief inspector has said.

Top-rated schools have been exempt from inspections since 2011, in a move that was intended to allow the inspectorate to focus resources on under-performing schools.

However, last month a National Audit Office report said this meant that almost 300 schools have gone for 10 years without being inspected.

In its response, the inspectorate called for the DfE to allow it to routinely visit ‘outstanding’ schools.

However, chief inspector Amanda Spielman has now said that the organisation, which has seen its budget cut in recent years, could not carry out these extra inspections without additional funding.

Speaking at the Festival of Education at Wellington College, she said: “That’s not something we can do out of our existing resources. It’s only something that can happen if the DfE reviews it.

“We are having some discussions with the department.”

She also reiterated the reasons why she wanted the DfE to lift the inspection exemption for “outstanding” schools.

She told the audience: “It’s looking at what parents say. I think there’s recognition that parents feel that they need relatively current information about a school, that the level of assurance drops away as an inspection report ages.”

Ms Spielman’s comments came as she confirmed that Ofsted wants to retain the current inspection grades for schools, including the “outstanding” judgement.