“Absurd” demands being placed on Ofsted inspectors by new inspection framework, new analysis suggests
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Former senior inspectors calculate that inspection teams are being asked to make more than 300 judgements on each primary school during their short visits, based on content of Ofsted’s guidance for inspectors.
Ofsted inspectors will have to make more than 300 judgements during their two-day visits to schools, an analysis of guidance put out by the inspectorate in advance of the start of its new framework shows.
In a revelation which throws into question the workability of the new inspection set-up, former senior inspectors Colin Richards and Frank Norris, writing for Education Uncovered, counted 213 evaluations needed for a typical primary school, under the new framework.
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By Warwick Mansell for EDUCATION UNCOVERED
Published: 14 October 2025
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We have seen over 50 serious allegations formally raised by numerous teachers against a head before during and after an Ofsted inspection -enough for the TRA to consider serious enough for investigation later. Yet during Ofsted’s 32 hours, despite noting three times the extraordinarily high staff sick leave, Ofsted found the leadership of the school ‘moral’ and the school ‘Outstanding.’ Will it ever be possible for Ofsted to get a true picture of a school in 32 hours? Adding more evaluations into the same time frame will likely dilute rather than strengthen the already ineffective system.
As a former HMI for whom I have deep respect told me recently ‘It takes a particular sort of genius to respond to criticism of unreliable judgments by having more judgements’
Excellent, if depressing article - allied to this is that Ofsted has not changed in any substantive manner its complaint process so erroneous judgments will not be able to be effectively challenged. Also is that many of these judgments are subjective or rooted in a particular position e.g. effective teaching draws on evidence - what evidence? What does effective mean? What research is acceptable (especially given the very, very poor ‘research’ reports (often from unqualified writers) published by Ofsted recently.