School's out for Ofsted inspections

The UK government has scrapped single-word Ofsted judgements which labelled schools across England as Outstanding, Inadequate or something in between.

Teacher with primary school age pupils

Teachers have been questioning the validity of Ofsted inspections for years. We’ve been researching the impact of Ofsted in three key areas – parent decisions on school choices, teaching standards and school’s abilities to attract skilled staff. Dr Iftikhar Hussain is one of the few experts to offer an economic perspective on the efficacy of Ofsted’s inspection system, with his insights helping to influence the government’s decision.  

How effective is Ofsted, do its inspections lead to school improvements?

While Ofsted has a clear effect on parent decisions around school choices and even local house prices, there is in fact little evidence for or against Ofsted’s impact on school improvement – its core remit. There is no quantitative evidence to suggest that children gain more from enrolling in schools with better Ofsted ratings. This is remarkable given that England arguably has the most stringent school inspection system in the world. 

Yet we also know, as the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has acknowledged, that parents tend to value Ofsted reports and their simple topline judgements. Seeing that a school is Good or Requires Improvement has a powerful impact on their decision-making.

Ofsted inspections have also been a major determinant in the careers of headteachers and senior leaders. Until the recent changes, poor results had warranted automatic academisation and their dismissal. They also have wider economic effects. Our research reveals that house prices in local school catchment areas across England rise and fall with Ofsted results. The knock-on effects of this on those local schools needs to be understood as well.

We have less statistical evidence about how teacher recruitment and retention is affected by Ofsted inspections. There are plenty of testimonials demonstrating that many teachers are critical of Ofsted and question the value of its inspections. Given that we have a teacher recruitment crisis in England, it’s a question worth asking: does a poor inspection impact a school’s ability to hire and retain the right people?

A lot seems to ride on Ofsted inspections and their one-word judgements. Was the government’s decision to scrap them a step forward?

The lack of clear, quantitative evidence on whether or not Ofsted inspections lead to school improvement is quite striking. The scrapping of simple topline judgements and all that goes with them, e.g. academisation, removes some of the pressure on school senior leadership teams and schools with a shortage or high turnover of staff. However, the underlying assumption of the system – that outsiders observing a school for two to three days will come to a valid and helpful conclusion – remains the same.

More evidence needs to be gathered for the system to work on a different basis. Meanwhile, it is encouraging to see moves by the government towards Ofsted inspections carrying less weight given the current absence of evidence in their favour. This reflects the concerns raised by me and others about school inspections in the Education Select Committee report published on this issue in January 2024.

 

Photo credit: Monkey Business