Letter to Annette Brooke MP from Christine
Gilbert CBE, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's
Services and Skills, Ofsted
I refer to the Select Committee meeting on 14
May 2008, when you asked how common it was for a school to achieve
a good grading when the test results are judged as satisfactory.
I am now able to respond in some detail.
There were 6,323 section 5 inspections carried out
between 1 September 2007 and 31 May 2008. Of these, the total
number of schools graded satisfactory (3) for "The standards
reached by learners" was 2,843 (39%). The "overall effectiveness"
grade for these was:
| Overall Effectiveness grade of "satisfactory standards" schools
| Percentage | Number
|
| 1 (outstanding) | 3.4%
| 98 |
| 2 (good) | 37.1% | 1,056
|
| 3 (satisfactory) | 55.9%
| 1,589 |
| 4 (poor) | 3.5% | 100
|
| |
|
As can be seen from the table, just over half of the schools
received the same grades for overall effectiveness as they did
for standards. Just over 40% received a judgement on overall effectiveness
that was higher than the grade for standards. A small proportion
of schools, 3.5%, had satisfactory standards but was judged to
be inadequate overall.
The headline grade "how well do learners achieve"
given in inspection reports takes into account both standards
(comparison with a national norm) and progress (this takes into
account the value added by the school, and considers a variety
of contextual factors and a range of first hand evidence gathered
by inspectors). In reaching this achievement judgement greater
weighting is given to the progress learners make. For example,
a special school that admits only learners with standards which
are much lower than average, might be graded 4 (exceptionally
low) for standards but 1 (outstanding) for progress because of
the high quality provision it makes for learners' needs and the
progress that learners make.
Contextualised value-added (CVA) data, which is published
by Ofsted and available to the school, is an important part of
the evidence, but inspectors will also consider:
— The school's own tracking and assessment records,
showing what has happened since the last round of national tests
or exams.
— Evidence from other assessment and value-added
systems.
— Evidence from the school's self-evaluation.
— Interviews with school staff, which can probe
the school's evidence.
— Direct observation of learners' progress in the
classroom.
— Scrutiny of learners' work.
— Discussions with learners about the level of progress
and challenge.
— The views of parents and carers.
In conclusion, while the standards that learners reach are
a very important factor in judging a school's overall effectiveness,
they are considered alongside other judgements such as the progress
learners are making. The evidence quoted above clearly demonstrates
that standards do not act as a "straightjacket" on inspection
judgements on overall effectiveness. When judging the overall
effectiveness of a school inspectors take a range of evidence
into account.
June 2008
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