• What does an inspectorate do when it can’t inspect?

    Six weeks after lockdown and the sudden end of inspections, and five weeks after Ofsted mooted a mass redeployment of staff, JL Dutaut finds out what the inspectors have been up to It’s now six weeks since “business as usual” came to an abrupt end for Ofsted. Yet just last week, chief inspector Amanda Spielman…

    5.00 May. 11th, 2020 | News

  • Vulnerable pupils falling through the cracks in AP 'cold spots'

    Data collection and tracking of how pupils are performing in alternative provision must be improved, a new report has said, warning that vulnerable learners could fall through the cracks. A new analysis published today by the Centre for Social Justice has revealed 13 local authorities where not a single excluded pupil passed their GCSE maths…

    13.36 May. 11th, 2020 | News

  • EPI: Suspend Ofsted inspections until 2021 and launch retired teacher volunteer scheme

    Suspending Ofsted inspections until next year and asking retired teachers to volunteer would help disadvantaged pupils “catch up” when schools reopen, a think tank has suggested. Education Policy Institute researchers warn poorer children could fall “seriously” and further behind as a result of school closures and disruption to the economy, wiping out over a “decade’s…

    0.01 May. 6th, 2020 | News

  • Ofsted refuses to release full post-inspection survey findings under new framework

    Ofsted has refused to release the full findings of post-inspection surveys under its new framework, claiming they would be “potentially misleading”. This is despite its own publication of some of the findings last month that showed nine in ten school staff were “satisfied” with their inspection. Publication of the positive figures followed growing criticism of…

    5.00 May. 4th, 2020 | News

  • Coronavirus: Routine inspections not likely before summer, says Spielman

    Ofsted is unlikely to resume routine inspections of schools this academic year, Amanda Spielman has told MPs. The chief inspector appeared in front of the Parliamentary education committee by video link this morning, to answer questions about coronavirus and other pressing issues facing the inspectorate. Here’s what we learned.   1. Routine inspections unlikely before…

    11.30 Apr. 27th, 2020 | News

  • 'Requires improvement' schools less likely to improve under new framework

    Schools rated ‘requires improvement’ are less likely to improve under Ofsted’s new inspection framework, new data shows. The watchdog has published statistics this morning which show that just 56 per cent of ‘requires improvement’ schools inspected in the first term of the new framework improved to ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, down from 64 per cent in…

    10.34 Mar. 26th, 2020 | News

  • Coronavirus: Ofsted pauses publication of inspection reports

    Ofsted has paused the publication of all inspection reports during the coronavirus crisis and promised that it will have “do the right thing” as its mantra going forward. Deputy director for further education and skills Paul Joyce told a webinar on Saturday run by sister title FE Week that the inspectorate had taken the decision…

    15.27 Mar. 23rd, 2020 | News

  • Governors: New Ofsted inspections 'rushed' and reports 'patronising'

    Ofsted’s new framework is diminishing the role of governance in schools, patronising staff and leading to rushed inspections, a new report has claimed. The National Governance Association has today released ‘A view from the board’ – its evaluation of Ofsted’s new inspection framework. While 65 per cent of governors and trustees at over 800 schools…

    5.01 Mar. 20th, 2020 | News

  • Coronavirus: Oldham sixth form college gets impending Ofsted deferred

    Oldham Sixth Form College has become the first education provider to successfully defer an Ofsted inspection due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Inspectors were due into the 16 to 19 academy this week but the visit has now been postponed to an unknown date, the watchdog has confirmed. On Friday, Ofsted released new guidance stating that…

    12.36 Mar. 16th, 2020 | News

  • Coronavirus: Spielman to preside over inspection deferral decisions

    The chief inspector of schools will personally sign off any decision not to defer Ofsted inspections of schools affected by coronavirus, it has been announced. Sean Harford, the watchdog’s national director of education, told the ASCL conference today that Ofsted will “look very favourably” on any requests for deferral as a result of coronavirus. Requests…

    16.19 Mar. 14th, 2020 | News