The government looks set to hand itself sweeping powers to close MATs based on trust-level education failures alone, once new Ofsted trust inspections are introduced.
Ministers have confirmed Ofsted will begin inspecting academy trusts for the first time, from as early as next year.
We’ve been through the proposed amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill and other policy documents so you don’t have to. Here’s everything you need to know…
1. Inspections could start in 2027
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson announced earlier this week that MAT inspections could start as early as 2027.
But Ofsted must first devise a new framework for the inspections, and government has said it plans to engage fully with the sector as it develops this. The framework will be based on updated trust quality descriptors.
DfE will also consult on its new intervention powers and inspections will be piloted.
It also said Ofsted will “be building its capacity to prepare for its new role, including recruiting from the trust sector”. The DfE hasn’t said whether Ofsted will receive more funding.
2. Trusts face closure for education failure
At present, ministers can re-broker individual schools from trusts if they are found by inspectors to be failing. But trusts can only be closed and all their schools moved to other chains in one go following financial or governance failures.
Under the government’s new plans, if trust leaders “are failing to lead, manage or govern” either the trust or an academy “to an acceptable standard”, Ofsted must notify the education secretary and state this in the report.
They must also lay out whether they feel leaders show “capacity to secure the necessary improvement”.
If they are failing, the education secretary may serve a termination warning notice to the trust, requesting the trust to respond, or requiring it to “take specified action by a specified date”.
If the trust fails to comply with the warning notice – by failing to take specified action, or respond on time – the secretary of state then has the power to terminate its academy agreement.
The DfE says this would mean its academies would be moved to a strong trust, and the department would support this process.
3. How often will inspections be?
Currently, Ofsted only puts together summary evaluations of trusts (MATSEs). These involve batch-inspections of multiple schools within a trust.
But yesterday’s schools bill amendment will, if passed, give Ofsted new powers to inspect the way their central teams work – something the government had pledged to do during this parliament.
The amendment gives Ofsted a duty to inspect trusts at specified intervals, as it currently does for schools, and prepare a written report on each inspection. Neither government nor Ofsted has said what these intervals will be.
The amendment also grants powers for non-routine inspections. This will mean “where specific concerns arise, they can be investigated quickly”, according to DfE policy guidance.
4. What will inspections cover?
The proposed legislation states the inspection reports must cover “the quality and effectiveness” of “leadership, management and governance”.
They must specifically cover…
- activities to secure the provision of a quality education, by pupils at its academies
- governance and executive leadership
- action taken by the trust to promote pupils’ wellbeing
- action to make improvements at its academies
- the trust’s management of its resources.
Ofsted must notify an academy trust before it carries out an inspection, and the trust must in turn notify parents and staff, according to the proposed legislation. No timeframe has been given. These details will be set out in a new inspection framework.
5. How will inspections be reported?
After inspection, a draft report will be sent to the trust and Ofsted will consider any comments it makes. The final report will be sent to the trust and education secretary, and must be published publicly.
The Confederation of School Trusts (CST) has previously called for the reports to be ungraded. A recent overhaul of school inspections has seen Ofsted’s single-phrase headline grades abolished and replaced with controversial “report cards”.
But the form MAT reports will take has not been set out in legislation. This will be laid out in the new inspection framework.
6. Ofsted will have power to seize documents
The schools bill amendment will give Ofsted power to enter any premises of a trust, its academies or where its pupils are being educated “at any reasonable time”.
It also gives inspectors powers to “inspect, take copies of, or take away” any documents or records kept by a trust or its academies.
If records are on a computer, they must be made available “in a form in which they are legible and can be taken away”.
Ofsted may also “obtain access to, and inspect and check the operation of, any computer and associated apparatus or material” which is believed to have been used “in connection with the documents or records”.
7. Staff obstructing Ofsted can be prosecuted
Staff must assist with this, and those who “intentionally obstruct” Ofsted could be prosecuted and fined £2,500, under the proposed legislation.
This is similar to the existing offence for obstructing a school-level inspection.
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