• Emphasis of Ofsted inspection to shift from classroom

    The emphasis of Ofsted inspections will “shift up the management structure”, but lesson observations will continue because teachers want them, Amanda Spielman has said. The chief inspector of schools told Schools Week that although she wasn’t pledging “in absolute terms” that inspectors will spend less time in lessons, schools should see the “weighting” of involvement…

    5.00 Oct. 15th, 2018 | News

  • The new Ofsted framework has the potential to transform workload

    Ofsted’s new curriculum framework has the potential to transform workload and bring education back to where it should be. Exam grades and test results are hugely important – they are a mark of knowledge and achievement that young people can use as the collateral to win university places, secure apprenticeships and get great jobs. Yet…

    5.00 Oct. 14th, 2018 | Opinion

  • Teacher drop-outs rise in every subject, and 8 more workforce findings

    The rate of teachers dropping out of the classroom increased for every single subject between 2015 and last year, new figures show. The Department for Education has published its latest analysis of data on teacher supply, retention and mobility. The analysis is published twice a year. Officials analysed the school workforce census data and initial teacher…

    11.40 Sep. 27th, 2018 | News

  • Spielman warns off-rolling 'could get worse' after sharp rise in pupils leaving school before GCSEs

    Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman has warned that the problem of schools removing pupils from the roll in order to manipulate exam results “absolutely could get worse” if it is not tackled effectively. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live today, Spielman told listeners that the education watchdog is looking into the “worrying” issue of off-rolling,…

    16.26 Aug. 28th, 2018 | News

  • Ofsted considers tougher inspection regime for secure training centres

    Ofsted wants to change the way it inspects secure training centres, which educate young offenders up to the age of 17. Run by private companies, the centres provide young people with 30 hours of education and training a week, following a school-day timetable. There are currently three secure training centres across the country, but none…

    17.56 Jul. 17th, 2018 | News

  • Ofsted DOES care about the early years

    There is much more to Ofsted’s engagement with the early years sector than the chief inspector’s visits to individual providers, argues Gill Jones At Ofsted, we know it’s imperative that young children get off to a good start when they begin primary school. Once they’re behind, it’s very difficult for them to catch up later.…

    16.53 Jul. 6th, 2018 | Opinion

  • Ofsted requires improvement – but how do we get there?

    Ofsted’s name is mud this week. Amanda Spielman’s speech at last week’s Festival of Education went down like a lead balloon after she announced that grades for overall school effectiveness are “not effort grades”. Then she suggested that schools in white working class areas get lower grades partly because local families may not have the…

    5.00 Jun. 29th, 2018 | Opinion

  • Still no sign of the delayed 'healthy schools' rating scheme

    The government still doesn’t know when proposals for a ‘healthy schools’ rating scheme will come to fruition, 10 months after it was supposed to start in primary schools. The plan was first mooted in the government’s child obesity action plan in 2016, and it was supposed to be up and running in schools by last…

    11.17 Jun. 25th, 2018 | News

  • Set up ‘Teach First-style’ scheme for school mental health specialists, says report

    A scheme modelled on Teach First should be set up in schools to train mental health specialists to work with young people, research has suggested. The training would involve learning how to manage problems that children face at school such as “bullying, exam stress and low moods”. Proposed in a new joint report from school…

    0.01 Jun. 21st, 2018 | News

  • Dorset school told to improve or have funding withdrawn

    A Dorset multi academy trust has been warned that one of its schools will have its funding agreement terminated if it does not improve on a damning Ofsted inspection. Lisa Mannall, the regional schools commissioner for the south-west, has written to the Twynham Learning multi-academy trust, after The Grange School in Christchurch was rated ‘inadequate’ with…

    17.57 Jun. 11th, 2018 | News

  • Ofsted attempts parental charm offensive

    Ofsted wants to make its inspection reports more accessible to parents because they are its “most important education stakeholders”, according to a senior official. Amy Finch, its head of strategic development, said this week that when Ofsted’s new framework comes into effect from September 2019, it will improve parental communication by using clearer language in…

    16.09 May. 25th, 2018 | News