Ofsted has launched a proposal to replace its one-word judgement of schools, early years and further education providers in England with a five-point grading scale for each area – like a report card.
Robert Poole, assistant district secretary of the Bolton District of the National Education Union (NEU), has said these are part of a ‘blunt system’ that needs to be ‘abolished’.
He said: “We welcome the removal of one-word inspection grades but what is needed is for Ofsted to be abolished and replaced.
“Ofsted is an organisation with no evidence that it raises standards.
“Rather than removing judgements schools now face nine separate judgements.
“We were hoping that Ofsted would have learned from the tragedy of headteacher Ruth Perry but it seems that they are going to continue with this blunt system.
“Even whistleblowers inside Ofsted say the new system has been cobbled together. No one has faith in Ofsted and more. What we need is a brand-new approach.”
Before this, schools in England were given one-word Ofsted judgments from inadequate to outstanding.
Last year, these judgments were scrapped after criticism following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Mrs Perry took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, over safeguarding concerns.
Ofsted launched a consultation on its proposal on Monday.
The new system would use colour-coded grades to assess judgment areas like leadership and governance, curriculum, developing teaching, achievement, behaviour and attitudes, attendance, personal development and well-being and inclusion.
Safeguarding would not be graded, but assessed as met or not met.
The proposal has already met with educators’ disapproval.
School leaders’ trade union NAHT polled its members and found that more than nine in 10 (92%) disagreed with the report card system.
The poll surveyed 3,045 NAHT members in England, suggesting 96% didn’t think that Ofsted will make meaningful changes in response to the views shared during the consultation.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, has called on the watchdog to reconsider its “ill-thought-through plans” and go back to the drawing board.
Mr Whiteman said: “School leaders are ambitious about standards, but these proposals will increase the workload of teachers, driving them away from the classroom.
“When these proposals were leaked at the end of last year, we warned that they would not work.
“Rather than rethinking the plans, Ofsted is pressing ahead with a model that has attracted almost universal criticism.
“Ofsted needs to go back to the drawing board, urgently reconsider these ill-thought-through plans, and listen to the profession.”
A separate poll of teachers this week suggested that only six per cent felt positive about Ofsted’s proposals.
A poll by Teacher Tapp, of 9,683 teachers, found that more than a third (35%) felt somewhat or very negative and 21 per cent felt neutral about the proposals.
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We want our inspections to raise standards for all children and provide better information for parents.
“We would encourage everyone to look at our detailed proposals and respond to the consultation.”
