Ofsted - does anyone believe what they say?

31 replies

slummymummy24 · 07/03/2025 10:09

I am curious if anyone thinks that the rankings that Ofsted give schools (especially in Early Years) are a true reflection on what actually happens in a setting?
Or are you more likely to listen to what friends have to say. ie. a personal recommendation from someone

OP posts:

littleluncheon · 07/03/2025 19:20

modgepodge · 07/03/2025 18:31

Why would they ask to see it though? They’re publicly available online. I read both my childminders’ reports but they wouldn’t have known as I didn’t tell them!

i do agree though that they’re largely meaningless. I only read them to check for safeguarding red flags, I went with my gut. Both were rated good not outstanding.

Ive worked in schools where the ofsted was fair, and others where it was ridiculous. One thing they do is take an isolated incident and report it as if it is a general pattern. The child crying at dinner mentioned above is a classic example. It was probably written as ‘children are left to cry at dinner which could lead to choking’. My son’s current nursery wrote that ‘staff are not aware of allergies’. Apparently the reality was that one new member of staff didn’t know about a particular child’s allergies - said child was on a settling in session (ie 2nd day) and their key worker, who was feeding them, did know. Ridiculous!!

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You'd need the childminder's registration number to find the report though and I doubt most childminders are giving out their registration numbers to prospective parents unless they actually sign up.

Cosyblankets · 07/03/2025 19:25

MystyLuna · 07/03/2025 15:37

Not early years but when I was attending evening classes at my local college, which has been rated outstanding for years, they had an Ofsted Inspection.
Numerous teachers told me they were working until 3am - 4am every day that week and then back in at 7am.
They needed to do this to ensure that all their lessons plans and resources etc were up to standard to ensure that all classes they taught were outstanding.
The college was rated outstanding again.
However, if they were having to work until 4am every day for the Ofsted week then I do not believe that they could be outstanding the whole year round.
If they were outstanding all year round then the teachers wouldn't have needed to work so much overtime that one week

They'll have been up all hours making sure things are on the right papers and things are in the right format. They'll have been up all night finding ways to prove that what they're doing fits all the boxes. None of this has any bearing on whether the kids are happy. None of this has any bearing on whether the kids are learning.
Perhaps if they didn't have to prove every last detail and analyse every last piece of data they'd actually be able to do the job they're paid for.
I'd rather ask the parents what their thoughts were. If rather ask the kids if they're happy.

BluebellCrocus · 07/03/2025 19:32

I'm suspicious of them for nurseries. If anyone remembers that nursery Tiny Toes in Stockport where the little girl was killed by the nursery worker. The description that came out in the trial of what was going on in the hugely understaffed nursery was appalling, yet it was rated Good and the killer had been there 17 years I think.

Julimia · 09/03/2025 13:17

Just go and see for yourself. Settings where you can just call in without an appointment are the most reliable. Ofsted can only report on a snapshot view and only see what they choose to see bearing in mind they are expected to gain d something

Original poster

slummymummy24 · 14/03/2025 13:48

Thank you for all your replies. I was curious as I work in an early years setting and we recently had a brutal Ofsted inspection.
It really was awful - the inspector focussed on negatives and, in our opinion, did not follow the inspection outlines correctly and the result is not a true reflection of our setting.
Our appeal has been rejected by them.
We are truly heartbroken and it is very hard to deal with this.
Anyway, as I said, thank you for your opinions, we just hope that our existing and hopefully future parents will make their own minds up.

OP posts:

SJM1988 · 14/03/2025 13:52

I didn't even look when I was picking a nursery.
Primary school I had a look but then read the actual reports if they were requires improvement.
They didn't for the basis of my decision though - we chose the requires improvement school.

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