OFSTED
hoping that a crack inspection team will come their way soon, particularly as those who have been inspected and come out the other side have found it a broadly positive experience. An overwhelming majority of schools surveyed felt the benefits of the inspection ‘outweigh any negative aspects’, and agreed that the process and reports reflected the views of everyone in the school community. With the ambitious government goal for every school to have been reinspected at least once by summer 2025 – a year sooner than planned – that positive attitude can only be a good thing.
ticket (unless there was evidence things were going significantly wrong), meaning exemption from routine inspections. As a result, many schools went years without so much as a sniff of an inspector. Some have remained excellent; others not so much. Of those in England previously rated outstanding when inspected by Ofsted last term, just under half lost their gold star. While most were reclassified as ‘good’ – the second-best grade – 11% were demoted either to ‘requires improvement’ or – the worst grade – ‘inadequate.’ Given results to date, many previously downgraded schools could even be actively
SCHOOLS FELT THE BENEFITS ‘OUTWEIGH ANY NEGATIVE ASPECTS’
34 SPR ING / SUMMER 2022
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