Ofsted says inspection not to blame for Ruth Perry’s death

As reported by the BBC, Ofsted has said the way a school inspection was conducted did not contribute to a head teacher’s death

Ruth Perry took her own life in January after being told Caversham Primary School in Reading was being downgraded from outstanding to inadequate.

In a pre-inquest review, coroner Heidi Connor said she would hear evidence about Mrs Perry’s interactions with the Ofsted team.

Mrs Perry’s family has previously blamed the inspection for her death.

Her relatives said they hoped her inquest would prevent further avoidable deaths.

Ms Connor told the hearing at Reading Town Hall that wider issues about the safety of the inspection regime would be left to an inquiry by the Commons Education Select Committee.

She said she would not be investigating the “minutiae” of Ofsted’s inspection process at the inquest.

“I have indicated the scope will include the Ofsted inspection and matters that flowed from that with regard to Ruth,” she said.

Bilal Rawat, representing Ofsted, said: “The position of Ofsted is that the inspection that was conducted revealed serious safeguarding concerns and that informed the judgment.

“We want to be very clear about we don’t accept the suggestion that it was the fact of the inspection that contributed to or affected Ms Perry’s mental health or the manner in which done, it was what was found.”

Lawyers for Mrs Perry’s family asked the coroner to consider nine other deaths, possibly linked to Ofsted inspections.

But the coroner responded: “I think it is unlikely I will be looking at nine other cases I haven’t had involvement with.”

The death of Mrs Perry, who had worked at the school for 13 years, prompted questions about the systems used by Ofsted.

Speaking following the hearing at Berkshire Coroner’s Court, the head teacher’s sister Prof Julia Waters said: “Ofsted are definitely an interested party in inquest terms.

“The coroner has expressed her wish to think about those kind of systemic issues – some of those concerns we’ve raised about single word judgements, the time lag between the inspection and the report coming out, the confidentiality agreement – they’re all in scope for the inquest.”

Ofsted has previously defended its one-word grades, which are not being scrapped.

A further pre-inquest review is due to take place on 27 October.

The inquest is currently listed for 28 November, with the coroner expecting to deliver her conclusions on 7 December.