Ofsted’s annual report (external link) for 2017/18 was published on Tuesday 4 December. Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI), emphasised within the report the areas of most concern. These have been identified by Ofsted over the past year through evidence taken from around 30,000 inspections and visits, as well as drawing on Ofsted’s own research findings.
Key findings relating to schools include:
- 95% of early years providers are judged good or outstanding, with 86% of schools judged at least good.
- Between January 2016 and January 2017, 19,000 pupils in years 10 and 11 “dropped off schools rolls”, with around half of these not appearing on another school roll. Some of the most vulnerable children are most likely to “leave their school”, with Ofsted identifying around 300 schools with “exceptional levels” of pupils coming off-roll.
- Local area special educational needs and disability (SEND) inspections found continued lack of co-ordinated 0-25 strategies and poor post-19 provision.
- There is a subsection of schools which has been persistently judged less than “good”, with over 490 “stuck in a cycle of poor performance” since 2005. Spielman dubbed these “stuck schools".
While the report calls for more outstanding schools to support “stuck schools”, Ofsted identified that leadership capacity within the sector is “worryingly thin”. Spielman calls on the DfE to grow system leadership capacity, to set out clearly how it will fund school improvement services and incentivise school-led system sponsors.
Regarding priorities for the year ahead, HMCI set out that new approaches to inspection will include:
- In December, following some targeted piloting and inspector training, Ofsted will be changing the process for reviewing MATs by introducing MAT summary evaluations.
- A focus on the substance of education and the curriculum; from September 2019 Ofsted will use the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) to rebalance inspection and take into more account of what is taught.
Read the report in full here (external link).