Missed inspection targets and 5 more findings from Ofsted’s annual report

Ofsted has missed nearly all internal inspection targets this year, its staff are less positive about working there and one in ten left, the watchdog’s annual report and accounts reveal.

The publication breaks down the inspectorate’s achievements, finances, and challenges for the 2024-25 academic year.

Here are the key takeaways…

1. Internal inspection targets missed …

Ofsted missed its internal target of state school inspections by 8 per cent – more than 500 schools – this year, its report shows.

The watchdog aimed to inspect 7,001 state schools, but inspected 6,471.

This was down to routine inspections being paused from December 2023 to January 2024, Ofsted said, so inspectors could undergo mental health awareness training following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.

This led to a shortfall of 417 (6 per cent) of inspections at the end of 2023-24. These were then prioritised at the start of this academic year and added to 2024-25 targets.

In September, routine inspections were again paused while overall effectiveness grades were scrapped, and another 341 inspections were unable to go ahead.

Ofsted will not roll-out its new inspections until November. Last week the watchdog also announced there will be fewer inspections than usual in November and December, as inspections will initially be carried out only by the most senior and experienced inspectors.

There will also be no education inspections in the final week before the Christmas holiday “to allow for further inspector training”.

2. … but target of inspecting all schools met

However, Ofsted has hit the target it was set in 2021 to inspect all schools between April 2021 and July 2025.

The watchdog was given a £24 million funding boost to speed up inspections and give a quicker assessment of how well education was recovering post-pandemic.

Chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said in Monday’s report: “To meet this commitment, we had to inspect schools that were previously graded good earlier than we otherwise would. It also meant we had to do more graded inspections (with larger inspection teams) and fewer ungraded inspections.

“We inspected 3,790 previously good schools in 2024–25; 1,660 were graded inspections.”

3. Ofsted staff less positive about their work …

The report also shows staff felt less positively about working for Ofsted this year.

Around 80 per cent of staff took part in the annual Civil Service People Survey last autumn.

Ofsted’s Employee Engagement Index score – which captures how staff feel about working in the department – was 64 per cent this year, down four percentage points from the previous year. The Civil Service benchmark score for this year is 65 per cent.

But sickness absence also increased this year. The average number of working days lost rose to 7.3 days, above Ofsted’s target of 6.8 days.

Ofsted says around one third (32 per cent) of absences are due to “stress, anxiety and other psychological conditions. Although this is lower than the Civil Service average, we will continue our efforts to reduce it,” the watchdog said.

4. … and staff turnover still above target

Staff turnover also remains higher than the Civil Service target, at 10.9 per cent. The target number is not included, but the wider civil service turnover rate was 7.5 per cent last year.

However, Ofsted’s turnover has improved: it was 12.8 per cent in 2023-24.

A total of 113 inspectors left Ofsted across all of its remits in 2024-25, the report states.

Turnover varies between remits and grades, but “recruitment and retention of talent continue to be priorities”, it adds.

5. ‘Catalyst’ scheme to boost diversity

More than 80 per cent of Ofsted employees are white, while just 13 per cent are from an ethnic minority. This is around the same as last year.

Meanwhile 69 per cent of employees identify as female, 8 per cent identify as LGBT, and 8 per cent are disabled.

Ofsted says the Ofsted Academy is “ready to launch” a new initiative it calls “Catalyst”, to “improve our recruitment of underrepresented groups”. Schools Week has approached Ofsted for more details.

6. Quarter of school complaints upheld

Of the 8,030 inspections and other activities carried out at schools in 2024-25, 4 per cent (310) resulted in a complaint. This is slightly more than the previous year, when 3 per cent (280) resulted in a complaint.

Of the 410 school complaints closed by Ofsted this year, 110 had at least one aspect upheld. This equated to 26 per cent – slightly down from 27 per cent the previous year.

Nine other inspections were deemed “incomplete” following complaints, while in two other cases the overall judgement was changed.