Governors of a Steiner academy say they will mount a legal challenge against an Ofsted report which placed it in special measures.

The Steiner Academy Bristol was inspected at the end of November and was subsequently found in a report to be inadequate on all five fronts, from early years provision to effectiveness of leadership and management.

The news comes as Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman yesterday said there had been a rise in the number of legal challenges to Ofsted reports.

Governors at the Bristol school said they requested that Ofsted re-inspect the academy with a fresh inspection team but that this was refused.

They have now set up a crowdfunding page to apply to the High Court for a judicial review challenging the legality of the Ofsted inspection process and report.

They say they are “concerned” that the approach of Ofsted to Steiner Schools has impacted on the “fairness and independence” of the inspection process, and that the unannounced inspection followed a letter from education secretary Damian Hinds to Ms Spielman calling for additional scrutiny of all Steiner schools. 

Governor Roy Douglas said: “While we take the report very seriously and recognise that improvements need to be made, we do not consider that the decision to place us in special measures was fair.

“We have a number of concerns about the way the inspection process was conducted and the judgements made and wanted to work with Ofsted to resolve these.”

The Steiner Academy Bristol is an all-ages free school, which is part of a fellowship of Steiner schools around the country influenced by the philosophy of Austrian educationalist Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) who developed a spiritual science known as anthroposophy.

A parents’ petition calling for a fresh Ofsted inspection has now reached more than 1,000 signatories.

Ofsted has been contacted for comment.