• Ofsted's off-rolling analysis reveals 13% spike in schools with 'exceptional' pupil movement

    The number of schools with exceptional levels of pupil movement has risen by 13 per cent in one year, despite Ofsted’s action to crack down on off-rolling. Analysis released today reveals that 340 schools had exceptional levels of pupil movement, up from 300 the year before. The watchdog’s latest study looked at pupil movement between…

    13.08 Sep. 6th, 2019 | News

  • Ofsted's inspection grace period won't apply to full primary curriculum

    Ofsted’s curriculum grace period will not apply to reading, writing and maths in primary schools. Further details of the education watchdog’s transition plans to give schools some breathing space in developing their curriculum were released in notes to inspectors today. It shows the transition arrangements apply to four of the “good” criteria of the quality…

    15.51 Sep. 5th, 2019 | News

  • Inspections cause teacher stress, and 4 other findings from Ofsted's wellbeing research

    Ofsted has found its own inspections are among a host of reasons for poor teacher wellbeing, according to new research published today. The new report also found that parents and senior leaders also contribute to teacher stress. Here are five of the most interesting findings from the research.   1. Ofsted is a big cause…

    11.14 Jul. 22nd, 2019 | News

  • What to do when an inspector calls

    Leaders should keep a cool head and take practical steps to prepare for the phone call from Ofsted, writes Ian Hartwright. School leaders tell us they are relieved that Ofsted has dropped plans to arrive on-site within a couple of hours of notifying a school of an inspection. But, from September, head teachers will be expected…

    5.00 Jul. 20th, 2019 | Opinion

  • Bonuses for senior Ofsted staff rise to £110k, and 5 more annual report findings

    Ofsted has today published its annual report and accounts for 2018-19. Schools Week has rounded up the key findings.   1. Bonus pay-outs to senior bosses rise to (up to) £110,000 Eight senior staff got bonuses this year, totalling between £70,000 to £110,000. The reason for the size of the range is that bonuses are…

    14.35 Jul. 18th, 2019 | News

  • Spielman: 'Red herring' to blame plunge in D&T numbers solely on EBacc

    Ofsted’s chief inspector has defended the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) as being the main driver of plunging pupil numbers for subjects such as design and technology. Amanda Spielman said today that between 2003 and 2017, the number of design and technology GCSEs taken by 16-year-olds in England “plummeted” by nearly two-thirds, from 420,000 pupils to just…

    15.26 Jul. 10th, 2019 | News

  • Ofsted: Curriculum intent isn't new, and it won't be the 'next big thing'

    Ofsted has said that its curriculum intent requirements are “nothing new”, nor the “next big thing”, as it attempts to alleviate concerns over the new inspection framework. The schools inspectorate said today that there was no need for headteachers to write new statements, adapt websites or restructure staffing to cover intent. The watchdog said it…

    12.53 Jul. 1st, 2019 | News

  • Ofsted downgrades hundreds more 'outstanding' schools

    Almost a third of previously ‘outstanding’ schools inspected since last September have dropped to ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’, Ofsted has revealed. Data covering the period from September to the end of March shows that just 16 per cent of ‘outstanding’ schools inspected during that time kept their top grade. Twenty-five per cent dropped to ‘requires…

    11.07 Jun. 13th, 2019 | News

  • Ofsted mulls creating school reviews website

    Ofsted has refused to rule out creating a TripAdvisor-style reviews website for parents after more than three quarters of respondents to a survey backed the idea. The watchdog is designing a replacement for Parent View, the service it uses to gather the views of parents about schools. I’m a real fan of parental involvement, but…

    5.00 May. 3rd, 2019 | News

  • Ofsted's evidence is so unfounded that their case for retaining grades collapses

    Ofsted’s defence of its four-point grading scheme in its recent paper (Retaining the current grading system in education, April 2019) has two, but only two, positive features. First, it acknowledges that there are strong arguments against its use of these grades.  Second, it admits that “we have never directly asked (parents) about the four-point grading…

    12.36 May. 2nd, 2019 | Opinion

  • Parents want more 'outstanding' schools inspected, plus 4 more Ofsted findings

    Parents want ‘outstanding’ schools inspected more often, but believe short inspections are increasingly behind unreliable judgments. Ofsted has published its annual parent survey today. A total of 1,111 parents responded to the poll, carried out in November last year. Here’s a round-up of some of the more interesting findings.   1. Parents think Ofsted is…

    0.01 Apr. 30th, 2019 | News