Ofsted Style Inspections Contribute to Poor Retention

The research based on a sample of almost 500 respondents demonstrates a mixed view of the impact of Ofsted, with some positive comment. However the NAHT’s long held view about the negative effect of Ofsted was reinforced.

• There is a variation in the quality of the teams inspecting schools. One commentary in the report echoes common complaints amongst the school community “…the teams from each of my five inspections at different schools have been so very different and unpredictable”. Ofsted must pay far greater attention to its quality assurance

• 63.5% of respondents felt that the impact on their school was at best neutral and at worst very unhelpful, with a large number of respondents (69.6%) saying that the effect on staff morale was unhelpful, or very unhelpful.

• Commentary on the impact on school leaders by the inspection process raises some interesting questions with almost half (48.4%) the respondents reporting a negative effect balanced by 31.7% of respondents who felt that the inspection was helpful to them. Context is all, and there is no doubt that for a newly appointed Head, the weight of inspection evidence does give external authority to implement and innovate.

• We have been assured by HMCI that data should be “an indicator not a determinant of inspection outcomes.” The evidence presented in this report clearly demonstrates the disconnect between that view and the on the ground reality with 88.3% of respondents saying that the influence of data was too strong. The evidence produced by Warwick Mansell (TES) shows that 98% of overall inspection outcomes are the same as school performance data.

• On recruitment, the most damning indictment of the current system is that 86.2% of respondents felt that the impact of Ofsted makes it less likely that potential candidates will be willing to apply for Headships. This weight of evidence (85.7%) also applies to Estyn, the Welsh equivalent of Ofsted that is felt to be less aggressive than the English version.

• On retention and security there is also an overwhelming response with 85.9% of respondents agreeing that inspection increases vulnerability and insecurity, which has a demonstrative effect on recruitment. As one deputy put it  “I don’t think I will apply for headship, because that will mean that I have to go through ten Ofsteds, and I’m not prepared to do that”.

The NAHT is clear that there must be an inspection system, that accountability is a given and that any form of external scrutiny is going to create tension.  However that system is not this one.

The Select Committee review of the inspection process is timely. The NAHT would like to see this committee recommend that the current regime that seeks to find fault and has such a negative effect on the school community is replaced by a system that promotes professional integrity and confidence and builds on success.

This new system should be conducted by a professional HMI team that will focus on the work and context of the school rather than spurious external data.