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18 April 2026

Tag: Ofsted

Long-awaited Ofsted report on double inspections to be published ‘before March’

A long-awaited Ofsted report on the “reliability” of inspections – tested through sending two inspectors to a school to see if they give the same judgment – will finally be delivered this month. Joanna Hall, director for schools at the inspectorate, told Schools Week a report on the results of its “double inspections” would be […]

Termly safeguarding audits would help heads ‘sleep at night’

A specialist body of safeguarding officers should be set up within or separately from Ofsted because inspections are “too short” to cover the issue properly, a multi-academy (MAT) trust executive has said. Stephen Tierney, chief executive of the Blessed Edward Bamber Catholic MAT in Blackpool, said that safeguarding pupils was “too important” to be assessed as […]

Ofsted publishes ‘unapproved’ report placing Durand in special measures

The education watchdog Ofsted has apologised after publishing an unapproved inspection report into Durand Academy that placed the beleagured south London school into special measures. Ofsted criticised the school’s leadership and management, teaching quality and pupil welfare and outcomes in the report published late last night. But it has since been removed and is not longer […]

Government to rebroker Manchester free schools founded by charity boss

Two free schools in Greater Manchester will be re-brokered to new multi-academy trusts after one was placed into special measures on its first inspection and the second given a financial notice to improve. The Collective Spirit free school in Oldham, which opened in September 2013, received an Ofsted judgement of “inadequate” in all categories in […]

Ofsted ignores more than 100 schools for a decade

More than 1,200 schools in England have not had a full Ofsted inspection in seven years, with more than 100 given respite for longer than a decade, a new Schools Week analysis reveals. A policy introduced by the government in 2011 exempts schools graded outstanding from further routine inspection as long as data shows they […]

Free school wants ‘rogue’ Ofsted grade quashed after 10-week ‘turnaround’

A free school that tried to gag Ofsted from publishing an “inadequate” inspection now wants the grade quashed after it was rated “good” just ten school weeks after being put into special measures. Langley Hall Primary Academy, one of the country’s first free schools to open in 2011, lost a high court challenge to ban […]

Ofsted: Greenwood Academies Trust has ‘let down pupils’

One of England’s largest multi-academy trusts has been warned it has “let down pupils over a number of years” after a focused inspection of six of its schools by Ofsted found half required special measures. The Greenwood Academies Trust has been told to “urgently improve outcomes for pupils” after an investigation in November revealed failures […]

Plymouth CAST academy trust issued warning notice after leadership failings

An under-fire academy trust has been given a warning notice and told to urgently improve, just weeks after an Ofsted inspection found serious weaknesses among its schools. The government has told Plymouth CAST, which runs 36 academies in the south west of England, to “urgently address weaknesses in its education provision” or face intervention. The […]