Ruth Perry’s sister has joined education sector leaders in a last-ditch call for Ofsted to pause its “rushed” planned reforms.
The open letter to education secretary Bridget Phillipson comes on the final day of Ofsted’s consultation on its plans for five graded judgments across up to 11 inspection areas.
It has been signed by school leaders, ex-inspectors, union leaders and Perry’s sister Professor Julia Waters.
They are calling on the education secretary to delay rollout of Ofsted’s consultation proposals. They argue Ofsted has “demonstrated its failure to address lessons” from Perry’s death.
A coroner found an Ofsted inspection at her school Caversham Primary in Reading had “contributed” to her suicide in 2023.
The coroner found “parts of the Ofsted inspection were conducted in a manner which lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity” and that it was “at times rude and intimidating”.
She also raised a string of concerns about Ofsted’s inspections, which the inspectorate has vowed to address with reforms.
Proposals will make inspections ‘less reliable’
The government has already scrapped the use of its four single-phrase headline judgments.
Under new plans Ofsted hopes to roll out this autumn, it proposes introducing new report cards that will instead see schools given one of five grades, from ‘exemplary’ to ‘causing concern’ across up to 11 different areas.
But those who signed today’s letter say they fear the proposals “will make inspections even less reliable and will continue to drive excessive pressure, ill-health and stress for the profession”.
They write that aside from removing the single-phrase overall effectiveness judgment, there has been “little meaningful attempt at resolving ongoing systemic issues that have been proven to cause catastrophic harm to education staff.”
“We believe the proposed new system will continue to have a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of education staff and hence on students’ school experience.”
They described Ofsted’s 12-week consultation as “rushed”, urging Phillipson “to delay these proposals to take the time needed to get change right.”
They said they would like to work with the education secretary and Ofsted to help “design a school inspection system that will meet the DfE’s principles for an improved accountability system…without driving more talented educators out of the profession”.
DfE pledges to ‘carefully consider’ responses
The letter is co-signed by a number of leading sector figures including former HMIs, mental health experts and academy trust CEOs.
It is also signed by NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede, new NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack, NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman, and ASCL general secretary Pepe Di’Iasio.
A DfE spokesperson said: “Ofsted reform plays a central role in our work to drive high and rising school standards.
“The system this government inherited meant high stakes for teachers, but low information for parents. That’s why we are determined to make inspection a more powerful, more transparent tool for driving school improvement – removing the single-word judgement and introducing school report cards.
“Both Ofsted’s and the department’s consultations have provided an important opportunity for everyone to have their say including on the impact of inspections on workload and wellbeing. Both organisations will carefully consider all responses before finalising the approach.”
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