Lucy Powell planning changes to Ofsted ‘within next few months’

The education secretary is preparing to make changes to Ofsted inspections in the “next few months” as concerns grow about school leader wellbeing, Schools Week understands.

Unions and other campaign groups have ramped up pressure for changes following reports of adverse impact on leaders’ health.

A senior government source confirmed Lucy Powell was looking at intervening, following hints during an interview with LBC earlier this month.

Powell said then that she took teacher and headteacher wellbeing “extremely seriously”.

“Of course we need an accountability structure and regime to continue school improvement,” she said.

“But I want to see one that is much more, kind of, supportive and understanding of the great jobs that…almost all headteachers are doing around the country.”

She will work “to make sure that we get this Ofsted framework, but also the culture, and the whole regime, right”.

Earlier this week, the leaders’ union NAHT called on the DfE to pause graded inspections as they were placing undue stress on leaders.

Paul Whiteman, the union’s general secretary, said feedback from members suggested Ofsted’s renewed framework “is even more stressful than the one that preceded it”.

Timeframe ‘a problem’

Whiteman said Powell’s words to LBC were “lovely as a statement of intent”, but said the NAHT also saw the timeframe for changes as “months rather than weeks”, which was a “problem for us”.

“It’s taking far too long,” he said. “That promise of change doesn’t save those that are going through the pain, the damage to their health, and the potential for tragedy that’s there right now.

“We need urgent relief and then a longer-term programme of change.”

The scale of changes Powell is mulling over is not yet known.

“The mood music is certainly more positive than we’ve had for a while on this subject,” said Whiteman.

“But in the absence of any detail whatsoever, I don’t know whether that’s simply positive rhetoric or real change that we can rely upon.”

The NAHT wants graded inspections halted while changes are drawn up.

Whiteman also stressed any new system must be designed “with” the sector.

“If the idea of government is to build a system that they think answers all of our concerns and then just deliver it to us, that’s not going to work.”

He said members welcomed challenges and accountability, and acknowledged the different audiences Ofsted served, including parents and politicians.

“It has to be a system that that equally serves them, but is proportionate to our members, so we don’t lose that talent and cause people harm.”

Leaders ‘forced out’

He added that Ofsted was “not serving parents if it forces really talented, really experienced school leaders out of their posts”.

On Wednesday the National Education Union (NEU) published a report on the impact of the new regime, which launched last September.

The shake-up was ordered after a coroner ruled that an inspection contributed to the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry.

The NEU, which is campaigning for Ofsted to be abolished, surveyed its members in June.

Of the 1,900 respondents, 77 per cent had been inspected under the new framework. Most (86 per cent) were teachers.

Eighty-six per cent reported a negative impact on their stress levels, 77 per cent on their mental health, and 59 per cent on their physical health.

However, the survey also revealed “welcome findings” on inspector conduct, with 67 per cent of respondents agreeing the inspection team was professional and respectful.

But 65 per cent said the new framework felt the same as before, or was worse.

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) did not agree the introduction of six evaluation areas had prompted a rich, more detailed evaluation of their school.

No pause

Ofsted has said it will not be pausing graded inspections.

A spokesperson said: “Ofsted exists to raise standards for children and to provide clear reporting to parents.

“Over the past three years, we have worked closely with teaching unions to deliver significant reforms to how Ofsted inspections work, while keeping our focus on what children and parents need from us.”

A recent survey by Teacher Tapp found teacher support for the abolition of single-phrase judgments has dropped dramatically.

In January 2025 – shortly after the inspectorate scrapped overall effectiveness ratings – 17 per cent of more than 9,500 teachers surveyed strongly supported the move. A further 39 per cent somewhat supported it.

A fresh survey last month of more than 8,000 teachers found just 2 per cent now strongly supported the move, and 19 per cent somewhat supported it.

The proportion opposing it rose from 13 per cent last January, to 29 per cent. The proportion who neither supported nor opposed it also rose, from 31 to 50 per cent.

Teachers back abolishing Ofsted

Meanwhile, a fresh Teacher Tapp survey yesterday (Thursday) asked more than 8,000 teachers which one change they would make to Ofsted, from a list of options.

The majority – 57 per cent – said they would “abolish Ofsted in its current form entirely”.

Fifteen per cent said they would give leaders and staff stronger wellbeing support during inspection, while 11 per cent opted for pausing graded inspections and reviewing Ofsted’s approach, and 10 per cent voted to replace report cards with narrative write-ups.

A further 5 per cent voted for “something else”, while just 2 per cent said no change was needed.

Ofsted has commissioned IFF Research for its own independent evaluation of the new framework. An interim report is due this autumn.

Letter to Powell raises reform concerns

A group of organisations and individuals concerned about the impact and effectiveness of inspection – called the Ofsted coalition – has also written to Powell with concerns.

In it they warned of “a fundamental concern about the process through which Ofsted itself has been reformed.

Ofsted has “largely been allowed to determine and implement its own response through, for example, the Big Listen and subsequent reforms.

“Ironically, we would not accept this approach for a school. A culture cannot credibly be reformed solely through a framework designed and implemented by the organisation whose culture is in question. Ofsted itself must be held to account.”

They said Powell had “already recognised that a change of culture is required to move away from systemic, high-stakes competition toward collaboration.

“That fundamental shift cannot be achieved solely through changes to an inspection framework designed and implemented by the very organisation being scrutinised.

“We urge you, therefore, to act now on the substantial evidence already available to ensure that Ofsted is subject to meaningful external accountability.”