OFSTED
INSPECTORS HAVE THE RIGHT TO TURN UP AT A SCHOOL WITH JUST 15 MINUTES’ NOTICE
will ensure that all policies and paperwork are always bang up to date, just to be sure), they will usually only find out the day before the inspection, although inspectors have the right to turn up at a school with just 15 minutes’ notice. This time around, however, many schools are finding that all the stress and strain of accommodating the inspection team is well worth the effort. Over 80% of schools inspected between September and November 2021 were awarded good or outstanding ratings – up from 77% before the pandemic. According to data from the first inspections carried out since the pandemic, many schools that had been
in the doldrums with a poor rating, have been upgraded. Over 70% inspected since September, and previously rated as requiring improvement, are now deemed good or even outstanding. For previously inadequate schools (the worst category), the figure is 56%. In both cases, the percentage has climbed, compared with the last round of inspections between 2019 and 2020. However, it hasn’t been good news all round. Inspection teams have started to home in on one group of schools that, in many cases, hadn’t been visited for years. These were previously graded ‘outstanding’ (the top ranking possible), which effectively gave them a golden
32 SPR ING / SUMMER 2022
Powered by FlippingBook