The former chief inspector of schools in England Sir Michael Wilshaw has said Ofsted’s style of school inspections needs to change after the death of the headteacher Ruth Perry.
Wilshaw, who led Ofsted until 2016, said Perry’s death, following an inspection that downgraded her school from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, had changed his mind over the use of one-word headline grades to rate schools in England.
“I’ve thought about it since this whole tragic episode took place. This is a woman who had the confidence of parents, raised achievements – educational provision was good – who fell down on one judgment,” Wilshaw told Tes magazine, adding that change was “inevitable”.
“I think this made everyone think, and it’s made me think. And it’s made me change my mind.”
Perry’s family say the popular headteacher of Caversham primary school in Reading killed herself earlier this year after being told by Ofsted inspectors that her school was to be rated as inadequate because of procedural flaws in safeguarding training.
Ofsted inspectors issue a summary school grade of “outstanding”, “good”, “requires improvement”, or “inadequate”, depending on their findings in several categories. Schools with inadequate safeguarding procedures are automatically given an overall grade of inadequate despite their performance in other areas such as behaviour or leadership.
Wilshaw said reports that highlighted what needed to be urgently fixed “would have been better than calling someone inadequate”.
The former head of Mossbourne academy in east London now supports proposals put forward by Labour to replace single-term judgments with a “report card” summary aimed at parents, having previously voiced his support for the existing system.
“I’ve reflected on it. And I’ve changed my mind. I think it is a good idea, as long as they run quite a lot of pilot inspections where they learn the lessons and make sure that inspection is as challenging as it’s always been,” Wilshaw said.
While Ofsted judgments had “been a lever for government to intervene in schools”, Wilshaw said: “I think you have to do it in a more nuanced way now.”
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, has defended the use of one-term judgments since Perry’s death, saying: “I think one-word assessments are there to make sure it’s easy for parents to navigate them.”
However, recent polling by YouGov found just 28% of British adults had confidence that Ofsted ratings were accurate, while 50% were not confident. Another YouGov poll found that 90% of teachers had an unfavourable view of Ofsted.
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said: “Sir Michael Wilshaw’s endorsement of Labour’s plans to reform Ofsted shows yet again that Labour is leading the way in education while the Conservatives offer nothing but drift.
“We need better than a system of accountability that’s high stakes for staff but low information for parents.”
Amanda Spielman, who succeeded Wilshaw as chief inspector, said the government was ultimately responsible for any major changes to school inspections, as she sought to explain why revisions announced earlier this week had failed to placate critics.
“We inspect as we find and then the government decides, based on the outcome, whether a school needs any support or intervention,” Spielman said in an article in Schools Week.
“These consequences of inspection undoubtedly raise the stakes for schools and are baked into the grading debate. But as grades are an integral part of how it regulates the sector, any changes would rightly be a matter for the government.”
The changes proposed by Ofsted were criticised by school leaders as failing to tackle the underlying problem and the emphasis on single-term judgments.
The Department for Education said that one-word inspections “succinctly summarise independent evaluations on the quality of education, safeguarding, and leadership which parents greatly rely on”, while the government uses inspection grades as part of its wider accountability system.
