Ofsted did not use a formal recruitment process to appoint subject-specific advisors because it would have been “financially unfeasible and overly-bureaucratic”, a top official at the inspectorate has said.
Sean Harford, Ofsted’s national director of education, said it would be up to the inspectorate to decide how to use the advice and that its advisory groups would “evolve”.
Yesterday Tes reported how Ofsted had been accused of being biased towards “traditionalist” education after it revealed the teachers who would be advising it on subject-specific inspection.
Read: Ofsted move ‘could favour knowledge curriculum’
Investigation: Is Ofsted biased about the curriculum?
Need to know: Ofsted’s new inspection framework
The criticism came after Ofsted released a 42-strong list of teachers advising it on subject-specific inspection under its new framework, in English, maths, history, modern foreign languages and science.
Three of those in the list - Christine Counsell, Stuart Lock and Bruno Reddy - are listed as supporters of Parents and Teachers for Excellence, which campaigns for “knowledge-rich” education.
It prompted accusations that Ofsted had selected from a pool of people with a big presence on the Twitter social media site. Questions were also asked about whether Ofsted had appointed the advisors via a formal recruitment process.
In an Ofsted blog, Mr Hardford confirmed that the inspectorate had not used such a process, but defended the move.
“We have invited group members who we feel have the subject-specific curriculum expertise to help us think through the issues at hand,” he writes.
“Some people have expressed concern that we didn’t carry out a ‘formal recruitment’ process in setting up these groups.
“Given the range of subject areas we wish to ultimately consider, we felt it impractical, financially unfeasible and overly-bureaucratic to have such a formal recruitment process for each group.
“They are not decision-making groups. It’s up to Ofsted, as the independent inspectorate, to decide on potential next steps and how we might use the groups’ advice.”
The blog says that Ofsted has “more groups planned for the near future”.
“The membership and work of all the groups continue to evolve. We have been adding group members as we identify the expertise we need.
“For example, when groups move from discussing secondary-specific issues to primary, we will add group members as necessary.”
The blog also says that Ofsted is thinking about how its new inspection approach will apply to other areas, including children with SEND.
“We are of course also considering implications of the new framework for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND),” Mr Harford writes.
“This subject-specific work is currently focused on key stages 1 to 4. We are bearing in mind how the groups’ work might provide insights that could inform inspection of early years and key stage 5 in schools.”
