The National Schools Commissioner, Sir David Carter, said during a debate on Tuesday 6 February that he planned to end the practice of regional schools commissioners (RSCs) carrying out visits in close proximity to Ofsted inspections of the same school.
Acknowledging that this had previously been a problem, Sir David said, “My plan going forward is that we will now bring that to an end … there is no point in having two bodies both working at school level because the downward pressure that creates on the system is I think part of the workload challenge.”
He went on to say that visits to individual schools would be carried out in only two circumstances: either because RSCs want to learn about good practice or because they question the validity of what they have been told about the school.
Sir David said that both he and the Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, are aware of the risk of duplication and are working together to address it.
Watch the full debate on the Institute of Education website (external link). Sir David’s comments are 59 minutes in.