Ofsted has today published a detailed response to its ‘Big
Listen' consultation, setting out how the inspectorate will reset
its relationship with the sectors it inspects and regulates,
while continuing to raise standards for children and learners.
The Big Listen is the largest consultation in Ofsted's history.
It showed broad support for Ofsted's role – particularly from
parents; but it also highlighted significant disquiet about the
inspectorate from those working within education and social care.
Responding to the criticism, Ofsted has announced a raft of
changes and improvements to the way it works. His Majesty's Chief
Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, described the Big Listen as “the
beginning of a new chapter” for the organisation.
Today's report presents a rich summary of everything Ofsted was
told during the consultation. The feedback included:
- Most parents agreed that Ofsted is important for keeping
children and learners safe (72%), and for the quality of children
and learners' education (68%)
- More than half (51%) of parents and carers agreed that Ofsted
acts in the best interests of children, while only 13% disagreed
- Most providers were frustrated with the single word judgement
– with only 28% in support
- Parents and professionals support the removal of the single
word judgement, with around half of parents (49%) opposed to the
single word judgement and 29% strongly opposing
- More than three in five providers (61%) felt inspection
placed undue pressure on their workload
- Almost half of professionals (47%) said they would be
uncomfortable raising concerns with an inspector during an
inspection
In response, Ofsted is making changes designed to reduce the
pressure of inspection on education and social care staff, while
still robustly assessing the quality of nurseries, schools,
further education and social care providers.
The main changes include:
- A new inspection framework for schools, early years and
further education, which will have greater focus on pupil
outcomes to drive higher standards, alongside a range of measures
to reduce anxiety for those being inspected. Consultation will
begin in early 2025.
- Increasing Ofsted's focus and scrutiny on how providers are
meeting the needs of vulnerable or disadvantaged children and
young people, by consulting on a specific focus on inclusion in
report cards. The new measure comes at a time of widening outcome
gaps between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils since the
pandemic.
- Pausing the publication of inspection reports when
safeguarding concerns are identified in an otherwise
high-performing school, until inspectors re-visit the school
within 3 months. This will give schools time to remedy issues
without intervention from the Department for Education. Parents
will still be informed about the safeguarding issues in the
meantime. This change will come into effect from this month.
- Introducing a ‘report card' in all areas Ofsted inspects, to
provide a more nuanced and detailed assessment of providers'
work. This follows the announcement by the Secretary of State for
Education that the single-word overall effectiveness judgement
will be removed from school inspections starting this month.
Report cards will be introduced from September 2025.
- Working with government to introduce new annual safeguarding,
attendance and off-rolling reviews for schools, to consider how
they are meeting their requirements to keep children safe. Ofsted
will also consult on a new, stand-alone assessment of
safeguarding in its reports.
Ofsted received more than 20,000 responses to its open online
consultation, including over 4,000 from children to the dedicated
children's Big Listen. Independent researchers commissioned by
Ofsted surveyed another 8,000 parents and members of the general
public, and more than 7,000 professionals working across
education and children's social care. Meanwhile, unions and
representative groups responded on behalf of tens of thousands of
their members.
Ofsted Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said:
“I promised the Big Listen would be followed by real change. This
is the beginning of a new chapter for Ofsted as we reset our
priorities, refine our practices and rebuild our relationships.
We want to retain the confidence of the children, parents and
carers we work for, and regain the respect of the committed
professionals we work with.
“The tragic death of Ruth Perry was a catalyst for this change,
but the case for change has been building for years. We recognise
the growing challenges facing education and social care,
particularly since the pandemic. We don't want to add to this
pressure. Many of the changes we are introducing are aimed at
reducing the pressure on those we inspect.
“We will always strive for higher standards for children,
particularly the most vulnerable children. We share that aim with
thousands of brilliant people working in education and social
care. We are determined to win back their trust and work together
in the interests of children and learners.”
Other changes include:
- Developing an Area Insights service using Ofsted's unique
position of oversight to share local data. This service will
illustrate what it is like to be a child in any given area,
providing better information for parents and carers about the
education and social care systems their child moves through from
birth to adulthood, and signalling to government the areas that
need additional support.
- Launching an Ofsted Academy, aimed at supporting a positive
learning culture and embedding Ofsted's values of
professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect across the
organisation. The Academy will also share best practice from the
sectors Ofsted inspects and make its own training materials and
processes more visible.
For schools:
- Ofsted will announce all routine inspections on a Monday,
with inspections taking place over the following two days. This
means leaders will know by Monday afternoon if they are being
inspected that week, helping to reduce the stress of waiting.
This new approach will be piloted over the autumn
term.
For early years providers:
- Ofsted will streamline the registration process for early
year providers to support the government's plans to meet demand
for childcare places.
- Ofsted will review how it registers, inspects and regulates
multiple providers, to ensure the sector can continue meeting the
demand for early years settings over the longer term.
For children's social care providers:
- Ofsted will strengthen the regulation of the children's
social care sector in partnership with government.
- Ofsted will work with government on new legislation to
enhance the regulation of social care, including oversight of
children's homes at group level and new enforcement powers to
tackle unregistered settings.
Notes to editors:
- Formal consultations on the report card, new framework, and
inclusion and safeguarding grading will open in early 2025.
- The Big Listen report includes 7 annexes, covering:
- A report detailing results of the public consultation
- An independent report, written by IFF Research, into the
views of the professionals
- An independent report, written by NatCen, into the views of
the parents and carers
- A report detailing results of Ofsted's children's survey
- The internal Big Listen: responding to our people
- An independent learning review led by Dame Christine Gilbert
- Ofsted's response to Dame Christine Gilbert's independent
learning review
