Ruth Perry's sister joins calls to delay Ofsted's 'rushed' rollout of new inspection measures

28 April 2025, 07:19 | Updated: 28 April 2025, 08:12

Ruth Perry's sister has joined education sector leaders calling for Oftsed to slam the breaks on its "rushed" rollout of reforms.

The 53-year-old headteacher took her own life after the education regulator downgraded her school's rating from outstanding to inadequate.

A coroner later ruled that the November 2022 ranking "contributed" to her death, sparking widespread calls for a new school inspection process.

Education leaders sent an open letter on the final day of Ofsted's public consultation urging Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to slam the breaks on what they say is a "rushed" rollout of new inspection measures.

Ms Perry's sister, Professor Julia Waters, is among the signatories. Others include senior educators, trade union chiefs, former inspectors, and mental health advocates.

Read more: 'An insult' - Ofsted chief at the time of headteacher Ruth Perry's suicide to be given peerage

Read more: Single-word Ofsted grades scrapped with immediate effect after suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry

The letter blasts the proposed reforms as failing to reflect the lessons from Ms Perry's that highlighted the huge pressures that school leaders face under the present system.

It reads: "We believe the proposed new system will continue to have a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of education staff and hence on students’ school experience.”

The letter also warns of a continued risk of "preventable deaths" if systemic issues are not fixed.

They described Ofsted’s 12-week consultation as “rushed”, demanding that Ms Phillipson delays the proposals to "take the time needed to get change right.”

Ofsted's reforms include the introduction of new report cards that will see schools given one of five grades, from ‘exemplary’ to ‘causing concern’ across up to 11 different areas.

This comes after the government scrapped the one-word judgements such as 'outstanding' or 'inadequate' that were deemed a factor in Ms Perry's death.

It has been argued single headline grades fail to provide a fair and accurate assessment of overall school performance across a range of areas and are supported by a minority of parents and teachers.

Instead, the letter signatories say the government must “design a school inspection system that will meet the DfE’s principles for an improved accountability system…without driving more talented educators out of the profession”.

They add that "trust in the system needs to be restored, arguing the "rushed and closed nature of the consultation has only made that worse."

Speaking on LBC News Breakfast with Vanessa Baffoe, Ms Waters said: "What's needed is for Ofsted to stop. They should never have been allowed to reform themselves.

"They have proved they cannot reform themselves by proposing these proposals.

"There needs to be a stop, a reset, a rethink and a completely new system that's safe, reliable, effective, that doesn't put the health and well being of educators at risk and therefore is genuinely useful and supportive to parents and to children who are clearly the most important people in this.

"Children are not supported by teachers and headteachers who live in fear as a flawed inspection system and its consequences."

Asked if she believes trust in Ofsted could ever be restored, she said: "I don’t know but by the way that Ofsted are conducting themselves, I doubt it. They’ve got a lot of work to do."

A DfE spokesperson said: “Ofsted reform plays a central role in our work to drive high and rising school standards.“The system this government inherited meant high stakes for teachers, but low information for parents.

"That’s why we are determined to make inspection a more powerful, more transparent tool for driving school improvement – removing the single-word judgement and introducing school report cards.

“Both Ofsted’s and the department’s consultations have provided an important opportunity for everyone to have their say including on the impact of inspections on workload and wellbeing. Both organisations will carefully consider all responses before finalising the approach.”