Ofsted Chief and Schools Minister face questions from Education Committee
The outgoing Chief Inspector of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, and Schools Minister Nick Gibb will be questioned by the Education Committee on Wednesday 8 November at 14.30.
Meeting details
Likely areas of questioning
In this final session of its inquiry into Ofsted’s work with schools, the cross-party Committee will quiz the witnesses on a range of issues raised during evidence sessions and in written submissions it received.
MPs may ask the Minister and Chief Inspector for their views on the usefulness of single word judgements, and how the outcomes of inspections should best be communicated to staff and families. In its last session, the Committee was told by former Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw that the “days of the one-word judgment are coming to an end” as “it is not giving parents an accurate picture of what is happening in the schools”.
Academics have suggested various factors can affect the reliability and consistency of Ofsted inspections, including the gender of inspectors, how many inspectors are involved, the frequency of inspections and how long they last. Other variables, such as whether local socio-economic deprivation is sufficiently taken into account and whether an inspector has expertise in different types of school, are also thought to have an impact.
However, the Committee has heard that little academic research has been undertaken into how such factors influence the accuracy of inspections. Dr Sam Sims, Lecturer at UCL, told the Committee there is “very little evidence on [consistency of inspection judgements], which is remarkable given that Ofsted has been going for 30 years.” He called on Ofsted to “release its data in a secure and safe way to qualified researchers”.
Witnesses have also suggested that the usefulness of Ofsted’s judgements for parents and staff could be undermined if these questions are not addressed.
The Minister and Chief Inspector are also likely to be questioned about the pressures that the current Inspection Framework puts on staff wellbeing, their workloads, and the knock-on effect this could have on retention.