Failing to teach pupils about LGBT relationships will result in schools being marked being down in Ofsted inspection judgements from this summer term, it has been revealed.
Secondary schools that fail to do so will receive a leadership and management judgement of “requires improvement” or worse.
And the watchdog has said primary schools could also receive this judgement for failing to cover LGBT relationships if Ofsted decides that the school has not fulfilled the government’s new statutory guidance.
Ofsted’s inspection handbook says that when a school receives a requires improvement judgement for leadership and management it is likely, other than in exceptional circumstances, that the overall school judgement will be the same.
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Ofsted published a new document today explaining how it will inspect schools following the move to make relationships education compulsory this academic year.
Ofsted focuses on LGBT education
The inspectorate has said that it will start to assess how well-prepared schools are to meet the government’s new relationships and sex education guidance when it returns to full inspections next year.
Full inspections are scheduled to return in January but this is being kept under review during the Covid-19 crisis.
Ofsted says that the Department for Education expects secondary schools, state-funded or independent, to deliver teaching on LGBT relationships and encourages primary schools to do the same.
Ofsted’s new guidance says that when it returns to full inspection next year, inspectors will assess “schools’ readiness to comply with the DfE’s statutory guidance, and comment on this in the inspection report”.
However, its findings will not impact on inspection judgements until the start of the summer term 2021.
Ofsted says that from the summer term a secondary school that does not teach about LGBT relationships will not be meeting the requirements of the DfE’s statutory guidance and will receive a leadership and management judgement of no better than “requires improvement”.
This could also happen at primary schools if Ofsted decides that the school is not meeting the government statutory guidance.
The Ofsted document says: “From the start of summer term 2021, if a primary school does not teach about LGBT relationships, this will not have an impact on the leadership and management judgement as long as the school can satisfy inspectors that it has still fulfilled the requirements of the DfE’s statutory guidance.
“If it cannot do this - for example, if it has failed to consult with parents - inspectors will consider this when making the leadership and management judgement. The school will not ordinarily receive a judgement for this better than ‘requires improvement’.”
