Ofsted inspectors will record evidence on Microsoft Word documents as the watchdog’s electronic evidence gathering (EEG) system continues to malfunction, Tes can reveal.

Evidence collected during school inspections is being wiped as the EEG application, which inspectors have used since 2017, sometimes freezes.

This is despite the watchdog carrying out a major review at the start of 2025, following similar problems reported with the application.

At the time, Ofsted said the “stability, reliability and usability” of the EEG was a priority for the inspectorate.

The issues come just over a month after Ofsted launched its new inspection report cards, which see schools inspected across six different evaluation areas on a five-point scale.

The Association of School and College Leaders has urged Ofsted to assure schools that their personal data will be “completely secure” in light of the new process.

The union representing senior Ofsted inspectors has also expressed concern about the temporary plans, as it calls for long-term solutions.

Temporary contingency plan

In an email to inspectors on Friday 19 December, seen by Tes, Ofsted admitted that there is an “underlying technical issue that is causing EEG to freeze when inspectors type notes directly into the application”.

Ofsted also said: “The issue is with the Power Apps desktop player that only Microsoft can fix.”

The watchdog confirmed to inspectors that it will follow a temporary contingency plan until the end of February, when it will provide further updates.

In 2024, The Observer and Schools Week reported that inspectors were forced to recall evidence from memory after the EEG crashed, wiping all the data.

In slides seen by Tes, which were part of a briefing linked to in the 19 December email, Ofsted confirmed to inspectors that senior Ofsted staff had raised concerns about the EEG.

One slide stated: “Senior Ofsted staff have made clear to Microsoft the impact this issue is having on inspectors.”

Recording evidence in Word documents

As a result, Ofsted has now instructed all inspectors to use a personalised, named Word document, which will be automatically generated eight days before the first on-site inspection day.

The Word document will be password protected and each inspection will have its own password, Ofsted explained.

The layout of the Word document will mirror the EEG, including evidence, summary and evaluation cards.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of ASCL, said that if there are any doubts about the way the system currently works, then “clearly it cannot be used and a long-term fix must be implemented as soon as possible”.

“We would like Ofsted to assure the profession that their temporary solution of using password-protected Word documents will be completely secure, as these are likely to contain sensitive school data,” Mr Di’lasio further warned.

Matt Newman, national officer of the FDA Trade Union, which represents senior Ofsted inspectors, also expressed concern with the temporary system.

“FDA members have been very clear that the current situation with EEG is unacceptable,” Mr Newman said, calling for a long-term solution to the tech issues.

The FDA wrote to chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver requesting urgent discussions, and the union has now met with senior management.

Mr Newman added: “While the organisation is working hard to ensure workarounds are in place, we remain concerned that there does not appear to be a strategy in place to resolve the underlying issue.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “A Microsoft issue has caused some technical problems with our electronic evidence gathering platform. While our supplier works to resolve the issue, we have provided inspectors with alternative processes to record their notes on inspection.”

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