Authors

Colin Richards
All articles by Colin Richards
‘Ofsted is failing on disadvantaged schools’
The inspectorate refuses to take into account the socioeconomic factors for schools in poor areas, writes Colin Richards
29 June 2018
Is Ofsted facing its glasnost moment?
The inspectorate may be about to learn the same lesson as Gorbachev: admit you’re flawed and the whole edifice crumbles
15 June 2018
Has Ofsted got its own recruitment crisis?
Ofsted’s 2019 framework is eagerly awaited – but will it have the personnel to deliver it, asks Colin Richards
10 May 2018
‘Old white men have dominated Ofsted’s history: we shouldn’t be surprised by the gender pay gap’
With a new report highlighting the gender pay gap within Ofsted, one former inspector reflects on the discrimination that has blighted school inspection since the very beginning
6 March 2018
‘Ofsted must be careful not to lose all its credibility in early years’
The response to Ofsted’s early years report last week suggests that the inspectorate has made a major miscalculation
4 December 2017
‘Without any sense of irony, the chief inspector criticises schools for “a weak theoretical understanding of the curriculum”’
One former inspector asks: How much value does the already narrowing curriculum have if it’s only local-authority schools that are required to follow it?
17 October 2017