At this year’s Conservative Party Conference, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has partnered with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) to hold a public panel event on ‘Is it time to end single-word Ofsted judgements?’
Longstanding calls to reform Ofsted have intensified and there are increasing concerns over the impact of the accountability system in its current form on teacher workload, staff and pupil wellbeing, curriculum breadth and that single phrase judgements do not support schools to improve standards. Recent EPI research finds that the longer a school has a negative rating, the harder the process of school improvement becomes.
In response to these calls, Ofsted has announced a series of reforms including the acceleration of their complaints procedure; allowing schools that have been rated ‘inadequate’ due to safeguarding issues three months to solve the concerns before being re-inspected; a broad timeframe for a school’s next inspection and greater support for school leaders during the inspection process.
Building on ASCL’s discussion paper on the future of inspection, this panel will bring together policy makers, school leaders, teaching unions and other education stakeholders to discuss to what extent reform is needed; what impact the announced reforms might have; and what further measures may be needed to truly tackle the issues embedded in the current accountability system. The panel will also consider how reforms may provide opportunities to improve the teaching profession’s trust in Ofsted; alleviate the burgeoning retention crisis and build a system that is reliable and transparent.
We are delighted to welcome Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England; Geoff Barton, ASCL; Jason Elsom, Parentkind and Paul Whiteman, NAHT. Natalie Perera, EPI’s Chief Executive will chair the session.
** Note: This event will take place in the conference secure zone. To access the secure zone you will need to obtain a pass directly from the Conservative Party.**
