The change took place on Friday (May 10) and simply means that sub-judgements are now being displayed alongside the overall judgement at the top of a school’s inspection report page.
The Association of School and College Leaders is not impressed. On Friday, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary, said: “The problem with the inspection system is not presentational but the fact that reducing everything that a school does to a blunt label is inherently flawed and deeply destructive.”
He continued: “It raises the stakes of an inspection to a level that is certain to cause stress and anxiety, drive people out of the profession, and which is often counterproductive when a negative grade stigmatises a school.”
Mr Di’Iasio welcomed the intention behind the idea but maintained that this is “just a cosmetic change”.
An Ofsted statement on Friday said that the inspectorate will now publish sub-judgements in this manner for “all past and future graded school inspections carried out under the Education Inspection Framework” (which came into force in September 2019). The change also covers inspections of early years settings and sixth form provision.
The four Ofsted sub-judgements are: Quality of education, Behaviour and attitudes, Personal development, and Leadership and management.
Ofsted chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said: “Parents are now able to see all a school’s sub-judgements without having to open its full report. This will help them see a more rounded, contextual picture of how well a school is doing and how it might work for their child.
“I hope this change shows that we have listened to parents and teachers, and that … we are acting where we can now. This change is a small but important step in helping parents get more from Ofsted’s inspection reports.”
The move comes amid growing tension between school leaders and government over the use of single-phrase judgements.
As reported last week, Sir Martyn has said that scrapping one-phrase judgements “has to be a government decision”. However, the Department for Education (DfE) maintains that they are “an important feature” of inspection reports.
Single-phrase judgements are seen by school leaders as a driver of the stress and anxiety caused by Ofsted’s regime. They are under the spotlight following the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry. The inquest into Ruth Perry’s death ruled that the 2022 inspection of her school “lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity”, was at times “rude and intimidating”, and had “contributed” to her suicide. The inspection had downgraded her school from outstanding to inadequate.
However, Ofsted’s consultation exercise, the Big Listen, which is part of its wider response to Ruth Perry’s suicide, and which closes on May 31, does not seek views on the use of single-phrase judgements.
Mr Di’Iasio said: “It is disappointing that Ofsted’s Big Listen does not actually ask respondents for a view about single-phrase judgements when this is the single most pressing issue. We understand that scrapping these judgements is a matter for the government rather than Ofsted, but there really should be a conduit for views on this matter.
“We are encouraging school and college leaders to share their views on single-phrase judgements in their response to the Big Listen, despite this not being explicitly requested. The government must stop digging in its feet over this issue, listen to the virtual consensus in favour of scrapping single-phrase judgements, and act now.”
Commenting this week, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, echoed the concerns about single-phrase judgements: "We need to see an end to the corrosive single-word judgements altogether. The current inspection system is closely linked to the retention issues of school leaders and teachers which is why there is simply no time to waste in making proper change."
- Ofsted: Inspection Reports: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/
- Ofsted: Big Listen: gov.uk/ofstedbiglisten