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Must do better: Why Ofsted’s proposals are so dangerous

Ofsted Inspection updates Government policy Accountability Whole-school issues Staff wellbeing
Ofsted’s report card and wider inspection reform proposals are unworkable, will create unreliable and insecure judgements, and will do nothing to ease the acute pressure felt by school staff, says Ian Hartwright
Resounding: A notable 92% of school leaders disagree with Ofsted’s plan to introduce five-point colour-coded judgements across up to 10 different areas during school inspections - Adobe Stock

Over the last week or so school leaders have been studying Ofsted’s proposals to reform school inspection.

And they have delivered a damning verdict: must do much better.

More than 3,000 members of the National Association of Head Teachers took part in our 48-hour snap poll, demonstrating their strength of feeling (see NAHT, 2025).

A resounding 92% disagreed with the inspectorate’s proposal to introduce five-point colour-coded judgements across up to 10 different areas.

Meanwhile, 96% do not trust Ofsted to make meaningful changes in response to feedback from the profession during the 12-week consultation launched last week.

It is hard to imagine a more damning indictment of the plans. But what lies behind this?

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