Education Secretary set to change school Ofsted inspections amid mounting pressure on 'suicidal headteachers'

The Education Secretary is expected to make more changes to the Ofsted school inspections system amid huge pressure on headteachers.

Lucy Powell is preparing to make an announcement within weeks, after headteachers told LBC the new regime had made them feel suicidal.

The case of headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life after an Ofsted inspection, saw single word assessments changed to a detailed report card system and a five-point grading scale.

But campaigners say the changes haven't gone far enough and have increased the pressures on teachers.

Her sister, Professor Julia Waters told LBC she's been contacted by at least a dozen teachers who have been left in extreme distress after inspections from the watchdog - even after changes to assessments were made in the wake of her death.

Ms Powell told LBC that the door was open to more reforms and the government were "in listening mode", suggesting the current framework wasn't working.

And she said she was "absolutely" looking at making changes.

She said: "A new framework's been brought in that's supposed to be off the back of that terrible tragedy to make sure that that doesn't happen again.

"I've already spoken to Ofsted about this.

"We have to be absolutely sure in our own minds that that is what this new framework is delivering, is an environment where no such recurrence of that could ever possibly take place.

"And we have to be very much in listening mode with headteachers and others on the front line to make sure that is the reality.

"And of course, if that means looking at... we absolutely will be doing so."

She said there was "nothing more concerning" to her in the job and said it was "absolutely awful" to see what had happened in the case of Ms Perry.

"I take incredibly seriously teachers' teacher, headteacher wellbeing. And yes, of course we need an accountability structure and regime to continue school improvement, but I want to see one that is much more kind of supportive and understanding of the great jobs that the vast majority, in fact almost all headteachers, are doing around the country and support them with that.

"I've already been in touch with with Ruth's family. I'll continue the work that I do with headteachers, headteacher representatives, and others to make sure that we get this Ofsted framework, but also the culture and the whole regime right."

Changes may see less responsibility put on teachers, and Ofsted's powers for intervention changed.

Professor Waters this month also met with the new Education Secretary in the wake of our reporting, saying: "I think she absolutely understands the need for really urgent action to prevent another completely preventable death."

Labour announced they would scrap the one-word judgements - “outstanding”, “good”, “requires improvement” and “inadequate” - with immediate effect in September 2024.

Last November the new inspection framework saw schools start to be graded in at least six evaluation areas using a five point scale ranging from "exceptional" to "urgent improvement".

And some of those ratings still trigger intervention from Ofsted and the Department for Education. While some headteachers say the new framework removed pressure from teachers, many claim it’s just been shifted onto senior leadership teams.

There’s concern those teams are simply passing it back onto teachers through a stressful and intense culture in schools.

Some headteachers told LBC they wanted to see a bigger overhaul of the system of Ofsted as a whole, following the “Big Listen” which was a consultation launched in response to the death of Ms Perry.

It’s left some teachers feeling like they haven’t been listened to.

Some have said Ofsted inspectors, many of whom are former teachers themselves, are no longer close enough to the education system to comment effectively on what is being done in schools.

Richard Uffendell, a headteacher in Bristol, told LBC more radical changes should have been made.

He said: “They've made the framework a secure fit rather than a best fit. That doesn't help because schools are living, breathing organisms. They constantly flex. So having a really binary checklist… doesn't really help.

"So having a best-fit model would be more appropriate”.

Teachers have also told LBC they’d like to see Ofsted inspectors visit schools more regularly for a longer period.

Many say the inspection process is too “high stakes”, with only a matter of days to show inspectors what their school is like.

One former headteacher who didn’t want to be named said: “I was inspected early in the new framework, and I've described this as being two of the worst days of my adult life. The framework is difficult to implement for inspectors. "There's too much to do in the two days, which causes them to rush.”

That same former headteacher – who quit his job following an Ofsted inspection earlier this year - told us, “The conduct of some inspectors was simply appalling”.

He claims he “wasn't offered a pause in spite of being really visibly distressed by the behaviour of inspectors” and “just before really devastating feedback from the inspection, [he] could hear the entire inspection team laughing and joking”.