Two reports raise questions about the future of Ofsted

In March this year, the news that headteacher Ruth Perry had taken her own life caused a huge storm both within and outside the teaching profession after Ruth’s family claimed that a recent Ofsted inspection had contributed to her death.

In the weeks since this news emerged, a row has erupted between government and unions about whether Ofsted inspections should be paused, or possibly scrapped altogether, in the wake of this tragic incident.

However, the pressure on Ofsted was in fact growing well before we hit March because in February two new reports were published that both raised serious questions about whether we can trust the judgements made by Ofsted inspectors when they visit schools.

Our guests today are the authors of those two reports. First, Dr Sam Sims from the Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities at UCL will be taking us through the new research paper that he and his two co-authors have published on the impact of Ofsted inspectors on the outcome of an Ofsted inspection. And second, Steve Rollett, the Deputy Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, will be outlining the main conclusions from their new discussion papers about the future of Ofsted.

Paper from Sam Sims and colleagues: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/473908/1/WP_Inspector_Effects_FINAL_020223.pdf

Paper from Steve Rollett: https://cstuk.org.uk/knowledge/guidance-and-policy/cst-discussion-paper-reforming-inspection-10-proposals/  

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