Unions as well as school leaders say proposed changes to replace four-grade approach in England are ‘demoralising’. Moves to overhaul the way schools are inspected in England have been criticised by headteachers and teaching unions as “demoralising” and worse than the system they are aiming to replace. The changes by the Ofsted schools inspectorate would replace single judgments such as “outstanding” with a new report card for parents. They will be unveiled by Ofsted’s chief inspector, Martyn Oliver, on Monday alongside the launch of a public consultation.

But the leaders of England’s education unions derided key aspects of the proposals, as did the family of Ruth Perry, the primary school headteacher whose suicide after an “intimidating” Ofsted inspection precipitated Labour’s pledge to scrap the use of headline grades. The new system would grade schools, nurseries and colleges in eight individual areas on a five-step scale, ranging from “exemplary” to “causing concern”, alongside a separate evaluation of whether safeguarding standards were met. Inspections currently look at four to six areas, including safeguarding, on a four-step scale from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

Despite months of discussion by Ofsted, many of the proposals have been rejected as bewildering and ineffective by union leaders, leaving the overhaul in disarray at the start of the 12-week consultation. Oliver said the new report card would be fairer and more balanced, reducing the strains on schools and teachers by using “a laser light instead of a floodlight” to focus on key areas during inspections.

“The report card will replace the simplistic overall judgment with a suite of grades, giving parents much more detail and better identifying the strengths and areas for improvement for a school, early years or further education provider,” he said. Oliver added: “By quickly returning to monitor schools that have areas for improvement, we will ensure timely action is taken to raise standards.”.

But Prof Julia Waters, Perry’s sister, said her fears that Ofsted was incapable of reforming the inspection regime had been justified. “Ofsted’s proposed new inspection model has some improvements but retains many of the dangerous features of the previous system, while introducing a series of changes with potential new risks to the wellbeing of teachers and headteachers,” Waters said. “The prime minister boasted about scrapping single-word judgments. This proposal appears to have fed those single-word judgments through an online thesaurus. Other elements of the report card design are ill thought through and potentially dangerous.

“I hope this is a genuine consultation, in which Ofsted takes onboard all comments and makes some significant changes to its proposals as a result. I would therefore urge anyone with an interest in school accountability and the wellbeing of pupils and teachers to respond to the consultation.”. Perry killed herself after a bruising Ofsted inspection lowered her school’s rating from outstanding to inadequate on the basis of safeguarding procedures. A coroner in 2023 said the “intimidating” inspection damaged Perry’s mental health and contributed to her death.

Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the proposed report cards “appear to be even worse” than the previous format. “Ofsted and the government appear to have learned nothing from the death of headteacher Ruth Perry and have instead devised an accountability system which will subject a beleaguered profession to yet more misery,” Di’Iasio said.

“People will vote with their feet by leaving teaching, which will worsen an already severe recruitment and retention crisis. We will end up without teachers to teach children and leaders to lead schools.”. Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, the largest teachers’ union in England, said: “Ofsted has failed to take seriously the enormous concerns of the profession. Even whistleblowers from within [Ofsted] are claiming the process has been botched and rushed.

“Ofsted is a discredited organisation with its name continually in the mud. It is incapable of introspection or change.”. Oliver, who took over from Amanda Spielman as chief inspector last year, was asked if he had Perry’s experience in mind while overseeing the changes. “The tragic death of Ruth has been on my mind ever since it happened,” Oliver said. Some changes were greeted with support. Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, and the Local Government Association praised the new focus on inclusion for children with additional needs in mainstream schools.