Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Office for Standards in Education
CHANGES TO
THE SCHOOL
INSPECTION FRAMEWORK:
SEPTEMBER 2003
At the end of my appearance in front of the
Committee of Public Accounts on Monday 8 December 2003, Mr Brian
Jenkins MP asked me to provide some further information with regard
to the above subject.
Ofsted has a statutory responsibility to keep
the inspection system under review. Inspection has evolved and
improved significantly since 1993. The new Framework draws on
previous experience and builds on good inspection practice developed
over the years. As many schools are approaching their third inspection
it is important that Ofsted reflects developments in education.
There are five major changes to the September
2003 Framework. They are:
— differentiation of inspection by
more emphasis on a school's special features and performance,
and more account taken of self-evaluation;
— proportionality of inspection linked
to the effectiveness of the school so that very good schools have
up to six years between inspection and weaker ones have more frequent
inspections;
— comparability of inspection in that
a common framework applies to all primary, nursery, secondary
and special schools and pupil referral units schools;
— dissemination of best practice by
inspectors seeking out and reporting on outstanding features of
schools; and
— the importance of seeking and taking
into account the views of pupils.
Background
These major changes have meant that inspectors
have had to modify their inspection practice. The aim of this
being to improve the effectiveness, rigour and responsiveness
of inspection. Significant changes in the inspection guidance
and methodology are listed below.
Inspections are tailored more closely to individual
schools. The notion of a blanket approach or a "one size
fits all" inspection system is a thing of the past. Inspection
now matches the context, character and performance of the school
and should provide a well-matched and robust diagnosis of the
school. Better use is made of pre-inspection information to focus
on what matters most in terms of the strengths and weaknesses
of the school. Inspectors should ensure they take a balanced approach
and provide explicit examples of excellent practice in the published
report. This is to disseminate good practice and help practitioners
to use it as a model.
In matching the inspection to the needs of the
school there is a changed approach to looking at subjects. The
balance of time used in inspecting the curriculum will vary to
reflect the performance in the different subjects. For example,
where there are high standards in English, mathematics and science,
the new arrangements allow these subjects to be sampled so that
closer attention can be paid to other areas of the curriculum.
This differentiated approach helps the school to improve and also
contributes to national policies for raising standards.
There is stronger guidance on evaluating inclusion
and race equality. The 2003 Framework specifies that inspectors
should highlight the achievement of different groups when evaluating
standards. Other areas of the Framework emphasise the promotion
of equality of opportunity. When evaluating and reporting on governance,
inspectors assess the extent to which the governing body ensures
that the school fulfils its statutory duties, including the promotion
of inclusive policies in relation to race equality. Matters of
inclusion and race equality are more explicit than in any other
Framework.
The new inspection Framework places greater
emphasis on testing the school's self-evaluation—building
on the good work that goes on in schools. This is to ensure that
inspection under the new arrangements is less onerous and intrusive
as schools take a bigger part in the inspection process. Inspectors
acknowledge and take account of what the school knows about itself.
However, this does not mean that inspections are less rigorous
or thorough. Ofsted has a duty to assure the public about the
quality of our children's education.
Seeking the views of pupils is a new development
in inspection practice—and matches well with the government's
commitment to giving children and young people a real say about
services which affect them, in order to make them feel heard and
valued. Pupils and students are key stakeholders. It is important
that inspectors seek their views by questionnaires and by interviewing
them during inspections. Schools are free to use their own questionnaires
in seeking pupils' views which inspectors will take account of
in lieu of the exemplar questionnaires. A further reason for canvassing
pupils' opinions is that it is consistent with the National Curriculum
for citizenship's encouragement to pupils to "participate"
and take "responsible action".
In line with the workforce remodelling agenda,
a new feature of the Framework is the importance of minimising
the stress that inspection can bring to teachers, headteachers,
governors and pupils. This means keeping to a minimum the amount
of additional or new work required in preparation for an Ofsted
inspection. There is no expectation that teachers should do extra
work before an inspection.
In response to developing inspection techniques
the new guidance sets out more explicitly than before grade descriptions
for judging the effectiveness of different aspects of a school's
provision. The descriptions include the characteristics which
illustrate where to pitch judgements. The distinctions between
grades are clearer than in previous guidance, particularly on
the boundaries of very good/good, good/satisfactory and satisfactory/unsatisfactory.
This is to achieve greater consistency across inspections.
The guidance highlights the continuous development
and honing of inspection skills. There is a stronger focus on
testing assertions and challenging assumptions rather than relying
on what inspectors are told. The importance of gathering first
hand evidence is paramount. Linking cause and effect is stressed,
that is, testing the effectiveness of a school's provision through
how well pupils achieve. Indeed there is a stronger attention
to mastering the inspection of achievement, which is whether pupils
are making the progress they should and achieving as much as they
are capable of.
Charting the impact of leadership has greater
emphasis in inspections. It is made explicit that the quality
of leadership, supported by efficient management and perceptive
governance, is central to the effectiveness of a school. This
increased emphasis on leadership and management in schools takes
into account not only the contributions of the headteacher but
all staff with leadership and management responsibilities at every
level, and governors. Every member of the inspection team has
a part to play in gathering evidence about leadership and management
in the areas and subjects on which they are focusing. Inspectors
should consider the extent to which leadership is embedded throughout
the school and not vested solely in senior staff.
Schools that are failing or likely to fail to
provide an acceptable standard of education, and require special
measures
Registered inspectors have judged more schools
to be failing, or likely to fail, and therefore to require special
measures, following their section 10 inspections in September
and October this year than was the case in September and October
2002.
The comparative figures are:
September to October 2003 38
September to October 2002 20
It must be stressed that, at 10 December 2003,
three of these judgements (one from September and two from October)
had not been corroborated.
In addition, 12 schools were made subject to
special measures following section 3 inspections by HMI and additional
inspectors in September and October 2003, compared with 14 in
the equivalent period in 2002.
More section 10 inspections took place in September
and October 2003 (842) than in September and October 2002 (739).
The percentages of these inspections which resulted in the judgement
that the school was failing or likely to fail were:
September to October 2003 4.5%
September to October 2002 2.7%
These figures remain provisional at this stage.
Why more schools are failing
Ofsted does not yet have all the data from the
inspections this term which have resulted in the judgement that
the school requires special measures, and so it is too early to
be certain about the factors which have led to the judgements.
However, the notification forms sent to Ofsted
by registered inspectors and corroboration reports by HMI suggest
that the most common factor has been weaknesses in the quality
of leadership and management. In many cases, weaknesses in the
quality of teaching also appear to have been a significant factor.
As indicated above, the guidance set out in
the September 2003 inspection handbooks includes more explicit
grade descriptions for judging the effectiveness of different
aspects of a school's provision, including the quality of teaching,
in order to achieve greater rigour and consistency across inspections.
The new framework and guidance also place greater emphasis on
the impact of the school's leadership. In preparing them, Ofsted
has worked with the DfES and the NCSL in distinguishing leadership
from management and this has, undoubtedly, sharpened the focus
on leadership during inspections.
Action taken when schools are judged to require
special measures
When, following a section 10 inspection, a school
is judged to require special measures, the judgement must be corroborated,
or not, by HMCI. When the judgement is corroborated, the school
is required to send its post-inspection action plan to Ofsted
and the LEA is required to produce a commentary and a statement
of action showing how it will support the school's improvement.
HMI visit the school to monitor and evaluate the progress being
made by the school to improve the standard of education for its
pupils. The first visit is normally made about six months after
the inspection. Further visits are made, usually termly, until
the school has improved sufficiently for HMI to write a report
stating that it is providing an acceptable standard of education,
or until the school is closed.
Mr David Bell
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools
16 December 2003
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