Literacy news
Ofsted judgements of inadequacy rise in latest data
8 Mar 2010
The proportion of schools judged by inspectors to be ‘inadequate’ has almost doubled in the last six months to one in 13, Ofsted data revealed today.
A tougher regime introduced by the schools inspectorate, Ofsted, in September has slashed the number of "outstanding" schools by more than a half to almost one in 10.
The figures emerged from an analysis of more than 2,000 inspection verdicts between September and mid-February by the Times Educational Supplement (TES). 150 schools inspected in this period were deemed "inadequate" and have increased to 7.5% of all schools inspected, compared with 4% six months ago. Schools placed in this category are put in emergency "special measures" and risk being closed and reopened as academies under new leadership.
Primary schools had the biggest proportionate increase in “inadequate” verdicts under the new framework, from 3 to 7.3 per cent of reports. Secondary schools saw the biggest drop in “outstanding” judgments from 22 to 9.5 per cent.
Headteachers warned that under the new regime Ofsted had become "preoccupied" with exam results and whether schools had met guidelines introduced to safeguard children from sex offenders. They claimed it now paid little attention to whether pupils were making long-term progress and demanded an "urgent and radical review" of the inspectorate.
Ofsted has said its new inspection criteria will "raise the bar" for schools. It would not comment on the statistics before publication of its own figures next week. It is likely to say that inspectors are concentrating more on under-performing schools now than in the past and this may have skewed how many were deemed inadequate.
John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
"Preoccupation with compliance over safeguarding regulations and excessive reliance on data and raw attainment have no doubt been the cause of the increase in schools being put into categories."
To read more, please visit:
The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/mar/05/ofsted-judgments-inadequacy-soar-schools
TES: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6038082&navcode=94
