Press Release

Ofsted Proposals: Supplementary Comment

19 May 2008

Commenting on the Chief Inspector’s proposals to change school inspections, Christine Blower, Acting General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Europe’s largest teaching union said;

“Increasing the number of inspections for certain schools and extending the interval between them for others will both confuse schools and carry within the inspection process the implication that judgements have already been taken. Those with more frequent inspections will feel that critical assumptions have already been made.

“It would be preferable, instead, for Ofsted to start taking responsibility for inspecting key Government initiatives. Currently the Academies programme, the new national curriculum tests pilot and the school improvement partners programme are being inspected by agencies other than Ofsted. It is essential that Ofsted itself, not companies under contract to Government, gives clear unbiased advice on key Government initiatives.”