Ofsted will give schools five days to make a complaint about an inspection report and will respond before publication, it has been revealed.

The inspectorate had consulted on plans not to publish reports until it had dealt with school complaints and was planning to give school leaders two days to complain.

However, it has now increased the length of time schools will have to make objections to a final report to five days after schools responding to the consultation said that two days was not long enough.

Heads: Ofsted complaints plan does not go far enough

Background: More Ofsted complaints upheld

Exclusive: Ofsted to review complaints process

Ofsted is going to keep the same process for reviewing complaints despite receiving some criticism during the consultation that the process is “Ofsted investigating Ofsted”.

Ofsted gives schools time to complain about inspection reports

And the inspectorate is going ahead with its plan to give schools five days to respond with feedback to a draft inspection report.

The proposals to give schools five days to respond to draft reports and the plan not to publish final reports until Ofsted has responded to complaints from schools were both backed by the majority of people taking part in the recent consultation.

A document published by Ofsted today shows that 94 per cent of respondents supported the plan for the watchdog to respond to a school’s complaints before publishing a final inspection report.  

The inspectorate’s plan to keep the same overall complaints process received a mixed response during the consultation.

Its figures show that 28 per cent of respondents and 36 per cent of schools were against this, but 51 per cent of respondents and 47 per cent of schools supported it.

The inspectorate uses a three-step process for dealing with complaints. The first step is for the complaint to be made and dealt with during the inspection.

The second is a formal complaint following the inspection. 

The third - if the complainant is still dissatisfied with the way in which the complaint was handled - is an internal review, which includes an external representative.

The complainant can also refer the case to an independent adjudication service.

The Association of School and College Leaders has previously objected to this process as neither the internal review process nor an independent adjudication service can actually overturn a judgement.

Ofsted’s annual report has shown that the number and proportion of complaints rose by more than a third in the past year.

The proportion of Ofsted inspections that have been complained about has increased by 39 per cent in a year, according to the inspectorate’s report published this week.