Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 71
Evaluate Citizenship provision within Ofsted's quality of education key judgement, alongside personal development.
Recommendation
Ofsted’s inadequate evaluation of financial education in schools undermines the importance of financial education and adversely affects how it is viewed and prioritised by teachers and school leaders. Citizenship in particular is not being appropriately assessed by Ofsted. Inspection under the personal development judgement alone is not the right accountability measure for a subject as important 28 Delivering effective financial education as citizenship and the financial education content it includes. Citizenship should be evaluated by Ofsted as part of its quality of education key judgement in addition to personal development.
Government Response Summary
The government explained that Ofsted's current regime already considers a broad curriculum and personal development, and financial education may be included in maths deep dives or citizenship assessments. It noted Ofsted will be consulting on a new education inspection framework and report cards, but did not specifically commit to evaluating citizenship, including its financial education content, under the 'quality of education' judgement.
Paragraph Reference:
71
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The current Ofsted inspection regime considers whether pupils are receiving a rounded education, looking at data, quality of the curriculum, behaviour and support for pupils’ personal development and school leadership. All schools, regardless of category and phase, are inspected against their ability to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum. Ofsted inspectors assess the quality of education and elements of financial education may be in scope when Ofsted conducts a deep dive into maths. Ofsted also assesses a school’s support for pupils’ personal development which could include financial education within citizenship. The government wants all school leaders to have confidence in the inspection system, and for it to be as useful as possible, for teachers, parents and children alike. Ofsted will be consulting on a new education inspection framework shortly, to come into effect next academic year, alongside the introduction of school report cards. These reforms will have a real difference and will make sure that Ofsted continues to be a valuable source of impartial information, which is trusted by teachers and leaders. We have worked with Ofsted to strengthen inspection of careers guidance, including the quality of provision and how well it benefits pupils in deciding on their next step. The government notes the Committee’s Fourth Report of Session 2022 to 2023 and its recommendation that Ofsted should evaluate schools’ achievement of the Gatsby benchmarks. On all school inspections, Ofsted inspectors look at the school’s use of the Gatsby Benchmarks, the quality of careers advice and meaningful work experience. Ofsted reported last year that both schools and FE and skills providers found the Gatsby Benchmarks useful to help strategically review and develop their careers programme20,21. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to the Gatsby Benchmarks, recently updated to achieve even more impact for young people. The government will publish updated careers statutory guidance in spring, in preparation for the implementation of the revised benchmarks from September 2025. We will work with Ofsted to ensure these changes to the benchmarks are reflected in inspection practice.