Ofsted | Schools Week

Ofsted: New framework ‘demanding but fair’ and 5 other findings from first evaluation

Ofsted has admitted visits under its new education inspection framework (EIF) are “demanding” for school leaders, especially those in small schools, during its first evaluation of the system. The schools watchdog introduced the EIF in September 2019 before being forced to suspend regular inspections the following March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, within those […]

Ofsted to inspect online schools under new accreditation scheme

Ofsted will step in to inspect online schools as part of a new accreditation scheme after the government failed to find a commercial provider to do the job. An online school accreditation scheme was approved last year following a consultation on plans for online providers to volunteer for inspection against measures similar to the independent […]

Ofsted national education director Sean Harford to take early retirement

Ofsted’s national director of education Sean Harford is to stand down from his role to take early retirement, the watchdog has announced. Harford has worked at Ofsted since 2003, initially as a Her Majesty’s Inspector and then in a number of management roles. He has been in his current role since 2015, and was national […]

Ofsted: ITE curriculums not ‘sufficiently ambitious’, and 5 other findings

Too few initial teacher education (ITE) partnerships have a “sufficiently ambitious” curriculum for their trainees, and “too many” are over-reliant on school placements to teach content, Ofsted has warned. The inspectorate has today released research and analysis on teacher training during Covid-19. Ofsted was due to begin inspecting ITE partnerships under its new framework from […]

Ofsted may temporarily extend inspection window to seven years

Ofsted may temporarily extend its statutory inspection window by two years in order to ensure Covid disruption doesn’t result in a breach of its legal obligations. Under current legislation, the watchdog must inspect schools within five years of the end of the academic year in which their previous inspection took place. But routine inspections have […]

Ofsted branded ‘disingenuous’ over wellbeing review

Ofsted’s pledge to review whether inspections are affecting staff wellbeing has been branded “disingenuous” after it emerged that no new action is actually being taken. The Department for Education and Ofsted made 12 commitments under an education staff wellbeing charter published this week to help “protect” the mental health of school staff. One of Ofsted’s […]

SEND pupils ‘not getting enough help’ in mainstream schools, says Ofsted

Ofsted has warned some pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are “not getting enough help” in mainstream schools — even when receiving specialist support. The schools watchdog today released its ‘Supporting SEND’ report which investigates how children and young people’s needs are met in mainstream education. It found specialist support from multi-agency services […]

Speed read: Ofsted’s guide to a ‘high-quality’ RE curriculum

Ofsted has identified the key principles of teaching a ‘high-quality’ religious education (RE) curriculum in its latest research review. The watchdog today published its second research review, following on from a deep dive into science last month. They say the research reviews will in part help teachers prioritise catch-up content by explaining the most helpful […]

Ofsted: ‘Very few’ primary teachers trained to teach geography

Ofsted has found “very few” primary school teachers have actually been trained to teach geography, with nearly half of schools not meeting national curriculum standards in the subject. The finding came from a series of geography subject inspections where the watchdog visited 23 ‘outstanding’-rated primary schools between January and March 2020. Iain Freeland, Ofsted subject […]