Single word Ofsted grades scrapped immediately?

[noblegiraffe]

The front page of the Metro tomorrow says that single word Ofsted grades will be scrapped immediately (reforming how Ofsted report to parents was in the Labour Manifesto so this is expected at some point).

However, two large teacher twitter accounts tweeted about the immediate abolition earlier today but both deleted their tweets, and the education press aren't running the story.

So why is the Metro running with it, and where is this rumour coming from?

As a teacher in a school which is due Ofsted, I bloody hope this is true. This would be massive for teacher workload and mental health.

https://x.com/hendopolis/status/1830302007694864625?s=61&t=U9XrcF693-JpMxeIueYG7g

Is this just for schools?

No idea if it's even happening yet, let alone the details. But I think it was just for schools.

Couldn't find much else about it post April, but did find this:

https://www.cypnow.co.uk/content/news/ofsted-chief-suggests-end-of-single-word-judgments-could-be-announced-within-weeks

Given that there are schools who will be inspected within a week or two, we really do need to know what that's going to look like. Something needs to come out tomorrow.

Teacher edutwitter are starting to murmur about it as being true. Keeping subgrades but ditching the headline grade.

The interim year before full report cards could be a bit tough on schools if not enough detail given. As a parent and governor I would like to know what's going on. However, scrapping one word judgments is a step in the right direction.

I don't know why we've got to simplify everything so much. Just read the summary report, they aren't that long. Having the one word rating as a buzz word really has lead to inaccuracy regarding school performance.

I hope this is true!

Whoop. Now leading the Torygraph and the Mail. Scorecard across the categories for thr next year, reform in Sept 25.

Great stuff.

Oh I shouldn't have read the Daily Mail article before bedtime!

"Labour will scrap one word Ofsted gradings in wake of headteacher's suicide - despite warnings it will damage pupils' education"

Because having an Ofsted grade directly contribute towards the suicide of a headteacher isn't damaging to pupils' education?

We are so short of people who want to be headteachers and Ofsted holds a lot of the blame for that.

Ofsted grades are about distance travelled, so the words are fairly meaningless in that sense. Failing schools (which became acamdemies under Labour) are outstanding, despite delivering results that are not.

The right wing press are doing their usual moaning about the government 'caving into the unions' completely ignoring that the prevention of future deaths report for Ruth Perry said that action needed to be taken, and mentioned single word grades as a cause for concern. It specifically said that "Transparency and ease of message to parents is not currently weighed against teacher welfare."

The last government certainly didn't care about teacher welfare.

Hah, there was a midnight embargo on the news.

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/ofsted-single-word-school-ratings-scrapped

https://news.sky.com/story/one-word-ofsted-judgements-for-schools-to-be-scrapped-immediately-13207711

Anyone who is worried about the impact on house prices - it looks like it will be for inspections moving forward rather than removing grades from schools already inspected. The inspection cycle is 4 years.

Ruth Perry’s sister is remarkable and tenacious. No reform of any kind would have taken place without her determination.

Agreed. Well done that woman 🥂

RIP Ruth Perry

Good, although I'm still fearful of the law of unintended consequences.

Removing the overall grade, but keeping the sub-grades for now, shifts the responsibility from the head to the AHTs in charge of sub-areas as each of their areas now has a greater overall impact. Before, if your area was not safeguarding, one RI measure in an otherwise good school didn't stand out as sorely as it will now, even though nothing has actually changed. I have worked for some truly despicable heads who will use this to completely shift blame away from their own leadership and onto whatever area needs improving, regardless of the fact that both are usually linked.

And while people should absolutely read a full Ofsted report when they decide on which school to send their children to, I wonder if this will lead to more misleading advertisement, which cherry-picks even more than usual, for example "This is a school with an OUTSTANDING sixth-form" when the rest of the school barely scraped RI.

I'm fare more in favour of learning walk style Ofsteds rather than the huge, high-stakes inspections we have now. Come in more frequently, unannounced, with a specific focus in mind for 2-3 hours, and use your findings over the space of, say, 2 years, to formulate a judgement based on more comprehensive evidence. Why is it that we have accepted that bi-annual high-stakes observations of teachers are a poor way of judging standards, but we don't shift our thinking when it comes to Ofsted? The whole lack of staff/ preparation doesn't really work - paperwork should be up to date and accessible in less time than this. You would get a far more accurate picture of what is really going on in schools.

We are waiting for ofsted and if there is a change we will be the first local school to be reported under the new system. I can see the confusion now! Plus it doesn’t take address the real flaws in the current system. Ofsted should be part of a package around school improvement

Why is it that we have accepted that bi-annual high-stakes observations of teachers are a poor way of judging standards, but we don't shift our thinking when it comes to Ofsted?

This isn't what inspections are like now. The observation of teaching is a much smaller aspect and they rarely stay in the same classroom for more than 10-15 minutes. The observation part is more to do with checking whether what the subject leader has told them is actually true.

The whole lack of staff/ preparation doesn't really work - paperwork should be up to date and accessible in less time than this.

It's not about paperwork - Ofsted barely look at any even if, sometimes, you actually want them to. It's about availability of staff for meetings, work reviews, etc.

So it’s for schools only, not early years,
FES, social care etc.

This also gives schools in the window a bit of breathing space

”To allow time for us to train our schools inspectors and update our handbooks, this term's routine school inspections will begin on 23 September.”

interested to see what this will bring

“The main change for inspectors and providers during inspection will be the approach to the final meeting where the judgement for overall effectiveness would usually be discussed. We are also introducing changes to ungraded inspections as announced before the summer.“

They're just scrapping the headline grade immediately because of the damage it does. There'll be a new system, but it won't come in till September next year.

I am so pleased to wake up to this story!!!!

It was always ridiculous having a one word judgement.

The government has said there will be a new package by Sept 2025, including more support for schools not doing well. The one-word judgement is the 'headline' measure, partly because ot was so toxic for Ruth Perry.

Good, Ofsted is not fit for purpose and hopefully this is just the start.

Schools need to be monitored with integrity and rigour, in a way that's helpful and brings about improvement where needed. The whole inspection set up needs radical reform, well done to Ruth Perry's sister for tirelessly working towards this.

Why should schools not be measured?