Sir Martyn Oliver became Ofsted Chief Inspector in January 2024, saying he wants to improve and change the way Ofsted goes about its work and as part of that promise, Ofsted has undertaken its ‘Big Listen’ consultation exercise which closed on 31 May. In this interview, NASUWT General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach put our members’ key concerns to Sir Martyn and set out our vision for the future of inspection and accountability in England.
You can view our response to the ‘Big Listen’ below or on our Consultation Responses page.
Consultation Response - Ofsted - Big Listen
NASUWT members in England continue to identify the school accountability regime as a critical area of concern. The accountability system in England has two main pillars: inspection and performance tables and floor targets.
Inspection
NASUWT has produced advice and guidance for teachers and leaders on Ofsted inspections. This covers frequently asked questions about the inspection process and how issues arising during inspection should be addressed. We also provide information about graded and ungraded inspections of schools.
Teachers and leaders who have concerns about an inspection or the way in which the requirements of inspection are interpreted by their school should seek advice and guidance from NASUWT. Support can be obtained by emailing the Member Support Team.
In September 2024, Ofsted introduced a number of changes to inspections of state funded maintained schools. The changes apply to ungraded inspections and information about the changes can be found on our Changes to Ofsted Inspection from September 2024 page.
Ofsted will be reviewing and consulting on the arrangements for inspections under the Education Inspection Framework more generally over the academic year 2024/25.
NASUWT is actively engaging with Ofsted about inspection reform and will continue to highlight members’ concerns about problems with inspection and the adverse impact of inspection on teachers, leaders and education settings.
Performance tables and floor standards
NASUWT is concerned by the way in which the use of performance tables and ‘floor’ targets and standards constructed from a narrow range of pupil performance indicators in the current school accountability system in England fails to reflect the full contribution schools make to the educational progress and wider wellbeing of children and young people.
The operation of crude, data-based school standards and targets has created an environment across the education system that continues to skew the curriculum offered by schools and creates unacceptable workload pressures for teachers and school leaders.
NASUWT continues to press for the introduction of an accountability system that holds schools to account for the right things in the right ways, is supportive and developmental and that reflects more accurately the full extent of the contribution that schools make to the progress, achievement, wellbeing and future life chances of children and young people.
