Select committee: Education Committee
Conclusion 1
First Report - Ofsted’s work with schools
Published 29 Jan 2024
Paragraph 14
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Ofsted’s work with schools All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
There is general agreement among teachers, school leaders, parents, teaching unions and other organisations on the important role that an independent inspectorate plays, and on the need for strong accountability for schools. However, it is clear that relations between Ofsted and the school sector, teachers, and leaders have become extremely strained and that trust in the inspectorate is worryingly low. There is a perception that Ofsted has become more defensive of its practices in recent years and is unwilling to listen and be open to change. The appointment of the new HMCI provides a crucial opportunity to reset and restore these relations and doing so should be a key priority for the new HMCI in his first year in post. We welcome Sir Martyn Oliver’s proposal to conduct a “Big Listen” with the sector and hope that this will lead to tangible changes.
From: Education Committee, First Report - Ofsted’s work with schools (HC 117), paragraph 14, 29 January 2024
Government response
Third Special Report - Ofsted’s work with schools: Government Response to the Committee’s First Report
The government responded to the whole report on 25 April 2024 (deadline 29 March 2024).
Second Special Report - Ofsted’s work with schools: Ofsted response to the Committee’s First Report
Published 11 March 2024.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.Ofsted says it has already acted on some recommendations, will explore most others through its 'Big Listen' consultation, and does not intend to action Recommendation 11.
- Ofsted reports action already taken, including mental health awareness training for all lead inspectors of schools and further education and skills, and a new policy allowing a school inspection to be paused. It says the whole inspection and regulatory workforce will complete the training before the end of March 2024.
- On inspection frequency and notice periods, it says the current five-year interval is set in legislation and gives reassurance to parents. It is "happy to consider potential changes to our notice periods" through the Big Listen, but "cannot immediately see how to implement different notice periods fairly".
- It does not intend to action Recommendation 11, an independent assessment of factors affecting retention of experienced HMIs, because it does not believe this is "a good use of public money".
- It commits to providing percentages of complaints per inspection remit from 2024-25, and intends to publish its evaluation of the education inspection framework as part of its response to the Big Listen. It says several other recommendations are matters for the DfE.