An apology from OFSTED

11th May 2001, 1:00am

Share

An apology from OFSTED

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/apology-ofsted
AN article in your Briefing section on January 26 referred extensively to the Office for Standards in Education inspection report on Blackburn with Darwen.

I regret that our report contains a serious inaccuracy. There were not nine schools on special measures on April 1, 1998, the date on which the new LEA was formally established. There were four schools on special measures. I have apologised to Lancashire LEA for the error. OFSTED will amend the report on our web site.

You correctly represented our report on Blackburn with Darwen as highly favourable. However, partly because of the error in our report, the contrast drawn with the previous authorty was less than fair and may have inadvertently led readers to believe that OFSTED was critical of Lancashire LEA. This is not the case. Our view of Lancashire was expressed in our report of January 2000: “Most of what the LEA does, it does well.” That is still our view.

In a few respects the new LEA inherited a challenging legacy. In most respects Blackburn with Darwen was able to build on previous good work by Lancashire. OFSTED and the Audit Commission reported very positively on Lancashire after its autumn 1999 inspection.

David Singleton

Head of LEA Inspection Division OFSTED

Alexandra House, 33 Kingsway

London WC2


Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared