Ofsted | Schools Week

Ofsted refuses to say whether senior official ‘approved’ content for curriculum firm

A curriculum provider has insisted a senior Ofsted official “approved” articles in its promotional magazine that featured alongside the Ofsted logo – despite the watchdog claiming it doesn’t approve “commercial products”. Cornerstones Education distributed The Curriculum magazine to schools earlier this week having released an online version last month. The front page bears the schools […]

Schools running 3-year GCSEs twice as likely to be ‘inadequate’, new report finds

Ofsted has been warned by a former education secretary not to undermine academy freedoms “by the back door” in a report that found schools running three-year GCSEs were more than twice as likely to be rated ‘inadequate’. A report published today by think tank Policy Exchange, The Watchmen Revisited, claims the schools watchdog has created […]

Ten things we learned from Ofsted’s school funding study

Ofsted has finally published its long-awaited research into the impact of funding pressures on schools. The study was not supposed to be released until a few weeks’ time. But the watchdog accidentally published a blog by chief inspector Amanda Spielman about it earlier this week, leading to widespread media coverage and criticism of her comments […]

‘We are not convinced’ – leaders’ union ASCL won’t back #PauseOfsted campaign

The Association of School and College Leaders will not back calls for school staff to stop working as Ofsted inspectors because its leaders are “not convinced” it’s the best way forward. The #PauseOfsted campaign, launched by Headteachers’ Roundtable chair Stephen Tierney at the think tank’s annual conference last week, calls for those working part-time as […]

Special school with ‘serious, widespread’ safeguarding failures to get a new sponsor

A residential special school in Worcestershire will be moved to a new academy trust after inspectors identified “serious, widespread” safeguarding failures. The boss of the academy trust in charge at Vale of Evesham School today admitted that mistakes at the school had led to “catastrophic results”, including the recruitment of a member of grounds staff […]

Ofsted accused of legal breach over lack of SEND consultations

Ofsted is facing accusations it breached equality laws after failing to consult any special needs organisations on its new framework before its finalised plans went out to public consultation. The inspectorate also neglected to include any SEND-specific research in the 321 sources of analysis to help shape the framework, Schools Week can reveal. They rejected […]

How Labour’s ‘back to the future’ Ofsted plans can work

Labour’s recently announced plan for remodelled school inspection reads as a hopeful case of “back to the future”. Its proposals envisage a two-tier quality assurance system very similar to the generally respected, though uneven, one abolished in ‘a fit absence of mind’ by the Conservatives in 1992. It is important to stress that the original […]

Ofsted recruits 30 inspectors to ramp up outstanding school visits

Ofsted has launched a £2 million pound recruitment push ahead of the expected lifting of the exemption for “outstanding” schools. The watchdog is looking to take on another 30 inspectors (HMI) on starting salaries of £72,665 once they have passed probation, according to its advert. If all 30 roles are filled, the salaries would total […]

Labour refuses to rule out replacing Ofsted

Labour is “looking at all options” for an overhaul of the school accountability system, including replacing Ofsted. In an exclusive eve-of-conference interview with Schools Week, Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, refuses to rule out scrapping the inspectorate, but does concede there is a need to replace it with a new system to hold schools […]