On Friday (January 19), the inspectorate published new guidance detailing the circumstances in which pauses of one to five days might take place.
It came as the schools watchdog formally responded to the Prevention of Future Deaths report issued after the inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Among a number of actions, Ofsted has also pledged to "explore" making safeguarding a standalone judgement, “decoupled” from the leadership and management grade to reduce the risk that otherwise good schools are graded inadequate for easily fixed safeguarding issues.
School inspections restarted this week after being suspended to allow for emergency mental health training for inspectors. Ofsted has promised that all lead inspectors will have undergone this training and so should be able to "recognise signs of distress in those they meet and know how to respond". Ofsted promised the coroner that inspections will be carried out with "professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect".
School leaders said this week that the "real test" of the new measures and "change of tone" would be on the ground during inspections.
In December, the inquest into Ruth Perry's death ruled that the November 2022 inspection of her school “lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity”, was at times “rude and intimidating”, and had “contributed” to her suicide.
Ofsted accepted the coroner’s findings in full and new chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver apologised “for the part our inspection of her school played in her death”.
A key concern raised by the coroner was that schools which are good in all other respects can be put into special measures for easily remedied safeguarding concerns – as was the case for Ruth Perry’s school.
Ofsted has already instigated a system of “rapid returns” (within three months) for such schools in order to give them time to “remedy issues and improve their inspection grade”.
Its response to the coroner goes further: “Between January and March 2024, we will conduct a formal internal review of where aspects of safeguarding fit within the individual judgements of the education inspection framework, subject to challenge from an expert group. We will explore having safeguarding as a standalone judgement, decoupled from the leadership and management grade.”
Elsewhere, the coroner lambasted Ofsted for an “almost complete absence of training or published policy” when it came to dealing with headteacher distress during inspection and how to pause inspections.
As well as mental health training rolled out earlier this term, Ofsted has now published a policy to allow inspectors or the school to request a pause to an inspection in “exceptional circumstances”. According to the policy, these include:
- “Circumstances that compromise our ability to gather sufficient evidence to reach valid and reliable judgements, and where the headteacher (or other leaders) require support from the responsible body (the local authority or trust).”
- “Any other notable incident that has a significant effect on the routine day-to-day running of the school.”
The policy states: “Our starting point will be that, if an inspection or visit is paused, it will usually resume the next working day. However, the length of the pause may be up to five working days.”
It adds: “If a school or responsible body wishes to request a pause to an inspection, they should normally ask the lead inspector. If the issue is connected with the lead inspector or the inspection itself, and cannot be resolved with the lead inspector, the school or responsible body should contact a senior inspector using the contact number provided during the inspection notification process.”
The process will then see the senior inspector on the helpline record the issue before contacting the lead inspector to “discuss the concern and decide how to proceed”. Solutions could include:
- A remote, desktop review of the electronic evidence by a senior inspector
- Deploying a senior inspector to quality-assure the inspection on site
- A change of lead or team inspector.
The policy adds: “The senior inspector and the national duty desk should discuss whether a pause is necessary, the length of the pause being considered and the reasons why the pause has or has not been agreed.”
It has also pledged to create an “expert reference group” which is to consider “aspects of training and where wellbeing might be incorporated more explicitly across the education inspection framework”.
Another factor in Ruth Perry’s death was the length of time between the inspection visit and the publication of the final report, during which time headteachers were banned from telling anyone about the findings.
Last year, Ofsted changed this and heads can now share provisional inspection outcomes with anyone they deem appropriate, including people unconnected with a school’s work.
Now, in the response to the coroner, Ofsted has said it will review its quality assurance processes “to see if we can make further changes to reduce the amount of time between an inspection and the publication of a report”.
Ofsted has already pledged to act with “professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect” during inspections and repeats this promise in its response to the coroner. Other actions outlined in the response include:
- All inspectors trained to recognise and respond to signs of distress in school leaders.
- A “clear and simple process” for providers who have concerns about an inspection to speak to an unconnected senior Ofsted employee.
- Appointing an independent expert to lead a “learning review” of Ofsted’s response to Ruth Perry’s death.
Sir Martyn is also to conduct what he has promised will be “a comprehensive listening exercise” – called the Big Listen – which will seek input from parents, leaders and professionals about “Ofsted’s current approach, the changes being made, and whether more can be done to protect children, raise standards and improve lives”.
In his introduction to Ofsted’s response, Sir Martyn said: “As a fellow headteacher, I was shocked and saddened by the death of Ruth Perry.
As chief inspector, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Ruth’s family and friends and apologise sincerely for the part our inspection of her school played in her death.
“I will do everything in my power to help ensure that inspections are carried out with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect and with consideration for staff welfare. Such tragedies should never happen again, and no one should feel as Ruth did.
“We accept the coroner’s findings. We intend to re-evaluate our internal policies and procedures in light of these findings, so that we can identify where changes need to be made. And in the weeks and months to come we will listen – to the professionals we work with and to the people we work for.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, welcomed the “change in tone” from Ofsted. He added: “Some of these proposals have the potential to improve certain aspects of inspection, but Ofsted also urgently needs start addressing the underlying issues that are causing the stress and pressure on schools, rather just tackling the symptoms.”
Earlier this term, the NAHT published its blueprint for Ofsted reforms that it says would make inspection “fair, proportionate and humane”. Its proposals include the removal of one-word judgements.
Mr Whiteman added: “These and other long-term recommendations for change must be listened to if the education profession is to regain its trust in the inspectorate. We remain of the view that far-reaching fundamental reform is still required. This must be the start of that process, not the end of it.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Our discussions with Ofsted and Sir Martyn Oliver over the past few weeks have given us grounds for cautious optimism that there is a genuine willingness to reset the relationship between the inspectorate and those it inspects. This is badly needed because that relationship has reached rock bottom, and it will take time and energy to win the confidence of a sector that feels battered and bruised by an excessively harsh inspection system.
“Most importantly, the real test of the new measures and the change of tone signalled by Sir Martyn will be what actually happens on the ground in inspections. We will be asking our members to give us feedback about how inspections are going in their settings and whether they are seeing a more supportive approach.”
- Ofsted: Guidance: Pausing state-funded school inspections, 2024: www.gov.uk/guidance/pausing-state-funded-school-inspections
- Ofsted: Prevention of Future Deaths report: Ofsted’s response, 2024: www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevention-of-future-deaths-report-regulation-28-ofsteds-response