What do Labour's Ofsted changes mean for schools?

A major change to the way Ofsted inspections work for schools has been made as a result of Labour delivering on an election pledge to revamp the grading system.

- ALBERT TOTH

The scrapping of single-phrase inspection headline grades for schools in England will be a relief for parents, Keir Starmer said as he visited a primary school yesterday.

What are the Ofsted changes?

The headline reform is the scrapping of single headline judgements, with schools now given more detailed reports.

These will provide four grades on each of the existing criteria: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

From September 2025, this will expand further with the introduction of school report cards, which the Department for Education says will give a fuller assessment of how schools are performing. It says the move is supported by 77 per cent of parents.

In its manifesto, Labour said the overall cost of its Ofsted reform plans would be £45m, paid for with some of the £1.5bn raised from charging VAT on private school fees.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "The need for Ofsted reform to drive high and rising standards for all our children in every school is overwhelmingly clear. The removal of headline grades is a generational reform and a landmark moment for children, parents and teachers. Single headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing - that's what our report cards will provide."