Education law lawyer sets out what the scrapping of one and two-word Ofsted judgements means for schools and what needs to happen next
The government has announced that overall one or two-word judgements in respect of Ofsted inspections in state schools have been scrapped with immediate effect in England.
The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said the judgements will be replaced by a ‘report card’ which will be aimed at improving standards and helping people to better understand schools’ strengths and weaknesses.
This is expected to be in place by September 2025, after a consultation on a new Schools and Early Years Inspection Framework which will begin in early 2025.
Ofsted to continue inspections against the same areas
In the meantime, Ofsted will continue to inspect schools against the same four areas as previously inspected: Quality of Education; Behaviour and Attitudes; Personal Development; and Leadership and Management. It will provide what are known as ‘gradings’ against those individual aspects of their performance.
It is understood that safeguarding will continue to be inspected as part of leadership and management.
Specialist education law lawyers support schools concerned by Ofsted inspection judgements
Education law lawyers at Irwin Mitchell have been supporting a number of nurseries and schools to challenge such judgements. Therefore, the announcement is welcome news for those and for hundreds of education providers up and down the country.
What this means in real terms
For inspections that have already taken place but have not yet had reports published it's unclear whether these will now be published without the one or two-word Judgments.
Schools should get in contact with Ofsted at the earliest opportunity to question this if they are awaiting a draft or final report. Our view is that they should be published without the overall one or two-word Judgements and should set out clearly how schools can operate well and improve.
For schools which are due to have inspections take place, inspections will proceed as normal with the new reporting described taking the form of the inspection report.
What needs to happen next?
The government is proposing to issue a consultation on the provision of ‘report cards’. No date has yet been provided for the opening of the consultation, but it's anticipated to be later this year or in early 2025.
We're advising parents, carers and schools to get involved with the consultation so that the outcome is a clearer, broader picture of how schools are performing for parents.
Ofsted is also responding to an independent learning review conducted by Dame Christine Gilbert who has made some significant recommendations about how the education watchdog is run.
More advice and support available
Irwin Mitchell's education team education team has experts from different areas of law who come together to provide educational institutions with support and advice around all possible areas of law. It regularly advises early years settings, schools and colleges on safeguarding issues.
More information about our work is available at our dedicated education section.
More information about Ofsted's plans is also available online.
