Ofsted is not re-inspecting a “small number” of schools that it rates ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ within 30 months, newly released board papers show.
The news comes despite the inspectorate’s school inspection handbook saying that requires improvement schools will “usually [be re-inspected] within 30 months after the publication of the previous section 5 report”.
The rules also say that while inadequate schools that are newly-academised or re-brokered will be inspected as new schools within three years, inadequate academies that are not re-brokered will normally be re-inspected within 30 months.
Matthew Coffey, Ofsted’s chief operating officer told its board meeting on 20 November 2018: “There is a small number of schools in special measures, schools graded requires improvement and schools with serious weaknesses that will not be re-inspected within 30 months.”
MPs: Six ways to improve Ofsted
Spielman: No evidence cuts harming education
Inspection: Ofsted won’t examine school internal data
According to the minutes, published today, he told the board that each case is discussed monthly, and Ofsted’s regional directors are “confident there are justifiable reasons for any delays, such as uncertainty around school re-brokering or joining an academy trust”.
He added that “All will be inspected within the statutory period” - which is five years.
Last year the inspectorate came under heavy criticism from the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for wrongly telling Parliament that is had met its legal requirement of re-inspecting non-exempt schools every five years.
Despite the inspectorate stating in its annual report and accounts that it had met this target in 2015-16, and was on track to do so for the following year, it had failed to do so in the case of 43 schools between 2012-13 and 2016-17.
The PAC report said Ofsted had taken action by putting “new procedures in place to make sure that any decision to defer an inspection beyond the statutory target is reported to HM chief inspector or Ofsted’s chief operating officer”.
According to the November board minutes, Ofsted has commissioned an external company to “review the processes for selection, scheduling, and deferral of statutory constrained inspections”.
It adds that Mr Coffey told the board: “The aim of the review is to identify any weaknesses and whether adequate controls are in place. Good progress has been made so far.”
