The school leaders’ union NAHT has launched legal action against Ofsted over its report card reforms, warning its consultation on the proposals is inadequate.
The union filed a claim for judicial review in the High Court yesterday, ahead of a debate on a motion calling for all “legal and industrial options” at its conference in Harrogate today.
Ofsted is proposing to issue schools with one of five colour-coded grades ranging from ‘causing concern’ to ‘exemplary’ across up to 11 different inspection areas.
The NAHT warned today its members feared the increase in the number of sub-judgments “will only increase high-stakes accountability and pressure”.
The union is opposing the report card proposals on legal grounds, “arguing that adequate consultation has not been conducted regarding the plan for a new five-point scale to grade schools”.
They said this element of the proposals “was presented as final during Ofsted’s report card consultation which closed this week.
“Any other possible options were rejected with no reference to wellbeing, despite Ofsted recognising that wellbeing is an important instigator for the changes it is making.”
The reforms have been enacted in response to a coroner’s ruling in 2023 that an inspection contributed to the suicide of Reading headteacher Ruth Perry.
‘Focus on wellbeing has got lost’
NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said: “Somehow the focus on school leader mental health and wellbeing has got lost along the way during Ofsted’s consultation process.
“We must not forget that the catalyst for these changes was the tragic death of Ruth Perry and widespread acceptance that the inspection regime was placing school leaders under intolerable pressure.”
He said there “appears to have been very little thought given to the impact on the wellbeing of school leaders in the drawing up of these plans and the consultation that followed.
“School leaders are deeply concerned that the new report cards could result in an even worse system than before, with potentially disastrous impact on workload, wellbeing and retention.
“We have tried engaging with Ofsted and explaining this, but so far these concerns have fallen largely on deaf ears. We have been left with little choice other than to pursue this action.”
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Supporting the mental health of those we inspect is an important part of the development of our proposals and we are already hearing positive feedback through our inspection tests.
“Our legal team have responded robustly to NAHT. Their suggested claims are plainly untenable. If legal action is launched, we will resist and seek costs.”
An Ofsted source added that “at a time when budgets are squeezed, NAHT wasting money on legal fees for the sake of a few headlines shows where their priorities lie”.
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