Geoff Barton responds to Ofsted’s commentary on inspection outcomes for previously exempt ‘outstanding’ schools reinspected in 2021/22
Geoff Barton, generalsecretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“Schools judged as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted were previously exempted from inspections because the government decided that would be a good idea.
“It has since changed its mind and Ofsted is now inspecting schools that have not been inspected for many years and were previously inspected under a different inspection framework with different criteria.
“Unsurprisingly, all this shifting of goalposts is leading to changes in the graded judgements of these schools.
“Most are still rated as either good or outstanding, but some are now rated as less than good, and this will be a very challenging situation.
“Ofsted graded judgements are a woefully blunt tool and where these are negative it is often stigmatising and makes improvement harder to secure.
“We need to move towards a more supportive and less punitive inspection system as this would clearly be in the best interests of the children and young people served by these schools.”
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