The government has said its new Ofsted report cards will offer parents a “much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing”, while lowering the stakes of inspection for schools.
The cards, due to be introduced in September next year, will focus on schools’ context, their inclusivity and on pupil happiness and wellbeing, while also “removing unnecessarily negative terminology like ‘inadequate’”, says Ofsted.
But the finer details need to be thrashed out. Here’s what we know so far…
What will report cards include?
The cards will consist of “new criteria” to inform families about a school’s strengths and areas for improvement.
One criterion will definitely be inclusion, which Ofsted has pledged to consult on. Another will be safeguarding, which is currently assessed as part of the ‘leadership and management’ sub-judgment.
Report cards will also incorporate new “area insights” to give parents more information about what it is like to attend a school, although Ofsted has not said what data this will pull together.
But there are already questions about what they will contain.
Damian Hinds, the shadow education secretary, said there was already “a great deal of information published about schools.
“It’s not clear whether the government is talking about changing the way information is presented, or something wholly new – and if something new, if that is about adding to what is assessed.”
Will current sub-judgments be replicated?
With headline grades scrapped, schools will continue to be graded against Ofsted’s four sub-judgments – such as quality of education – until next September.
Beyond that, Ofsted has not decided if these will be retained or replaced.
Policy expert Loic Menzies said the “challenge will be to avoid swamping the reports with information or pushing schools to jump through too many hoops”.
Police and fire reports
It is understood the inspectorate has looked at the model used by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
A spokesperson said its reports “allow the public to see how well their local service or force is performing and improving year on year, from a set of easy-to-understand categories”.
The reports do not provide an overall judgment but, at a glance, show how well forces are performing across several areas, such as investigating a crime.
Sector develops its own approaches
Camden Learning, which is chaired by Dame Christine Gilbert, the former chief inspector, has been developing its own report card.
A prototype was trialled this spring and a full roll-out is planned next year.
Camden Council said the card would set out things such as a school’s most recent Ofsted result and point out inclusive practice and work to improve health and wellbeing.
Learn Sheffield is also developing a card. Its “front page” includes details such as the percentage of parents who would recommend the school and the “top five positives from parents about the school”.
Stephen Betts, Learn Sheffield’s chief executive, said: “We haven’t gone down that route of having a section on inclusion because…what data do you use that’s genuinely instructive?”
“Everything you include or don’t include has a range of potential unintended consequences.”
Removing headline grades could make reports more positive
Analysis by FFT Education Datalab suggests scrapping headline grades will make some Ofsted reports issued this year seem more positive.
It looked at the 3,660 inspection reports published in 2023-24 to compare the four sub-judgment grades with the now scrapped grade for overall effectiveness.
Three in five schools rated ‘requires improvement’ last year had two or more ‘good’ or better sub-grades.
John Jerrim, a professor at the UCL Institute of Education, said these schools “will indeed look better to most people”. For instance, “lots of parents will assume that three ‘goods’ means it’s ‘good’ overall. But that’s not the case.”
CofE hails success of removing grades
The Church of England recently removed single-phrase judgments in its own Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) , which focuses on how they promote Christian vision, values, religious education collective worship, and holistic education.
Dr Margaret James, its national director, said scrapping headline grades resulted in “over 99 per cent of all inspections being carried out in a way that has lessened the stress on school leaders whilst improving the robustness of inspection”.
What will be the trigger for intervention?
Ofsted will continue to identify schools “causing concern” and the government will continue to convert them into academies or re-broker them to new trusts.
But it is not clear yet what the trigger for intervention will be.
“lots of parents will assume that three ‘goods’ means it’s ‘good’ overall. But that’s not the case.
Quite, because there is no ‘overall’. That won’t stop parents making their own overall judgement: they will still want to know whether their child attends a good school or not. They wanted to know that before Ofsted existed!