Ofsted's single-word school ratings scrapped

Single-word Ofsted judgments for state schools will be scrapped with immediate effect to be replaced by report cards aimed at improving standards and helping parents to better understand schools' strengths and weaknesses.

- Pippa Crerar

The four existing "headline" ratings currently awarded by the inspections watchdog in England outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate - will go, under radical changes announced today by the new government.

State schools inspected this year will instead be graded on quality of education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. Independent schools, early years settings, colleges and children's social care providers will follow.

Education unions and the teaching profession welcomed the changes to the school inspection system, first promised by Labour before the election, and which follow the suicide of the primary school headteacher Ruth Perry.

They pave the way for the introduction of school report cards from September 2025, which - after consultation will provide parents with a comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing, ensuring that inspections are more effective in driving improvement.

The government would continue to intervene in poorly performing schools to ensure high standards for children, the Department for Education said, amid some concerns that the changes could result in less oversight.

Where schools are identified as struggling, there will be direct intervention, rather than relying purely on a change in management. From early 2025, new regional improvement teams will work with these institutions to address areas of weakness.

In the most serious cases - schools that would have been graded inadequate by Ofsted under the existing system - the government will continue to issue academy orders, which in some cases will mean new management.