Ofsted is 30 this year. Introduced to to improve the quality of education across the UK, the first common inspection framework was published in 1992. There is no denying that Ofsted drives what happens in schools. The current focus on the curriculum follows a major two-year research study commissioned by Amanda Spielmen, HM Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The study, conducted over three phases, found that “many schools were teaching to the test and teaching a narrowed curriculum in pursuit of league table outcomes”, the inspection regime accepting that it is in part to blame for this. The most recent framework has been in use from September 2019 and has been ammended from September 2022 in the following areas:

1) A change of name: section 5 inspections have been rebranded as Graded Inspections, section 8 inspections as Ungraded Inspections.

2) A change in direction: the paragraphs regarding temporary Covid-19 measures have been incorporated into the main sections of each handbook.

3) A change to descriptors: the transitional arrangements have been replaced with a descriptor acknowledging that providers no longer face emergency measures but are taking longer-term approaches to return learners to the curriculum they always intended (within the Quality of Education descriptor for good).

4) A change from the past: the inspection handbook now includes a section on “new schools” to clarify that if a school changes its unique reference number (URN) it “legally becomes a new school and judgements of the predecessor school are not those of the new school”. Inspectors may look at the performance of any predecessor school as part of pre-inspection planning however, and this is particularly significant as the Department for Education pushes ahead with plans to academise schools on the basis of two consecutive “requires improvement” judgements.

5) A change to inspection: regional directors can now change the type of inspection a “good” school can receive if it no longer believes it is likely to improve to achieve an “outstanding” grade, switching from a graded inspection to an ungraded inspection, thus maintaining the school as “good”.

5) A change to FE: full inspections of further education colleges, sixth form colleges and designated institutions will be enhanced to include a new narrative sub-judgement on how well colleges are contributing to skills needs.

6) A change to EY: now includes guidance on how to apply the EIF in specific contexts and provisions, such as childminders and out-of-school settings.

These are the most recent changes, assuming that you are up to date and familiar with the 2019 Education Inspection Framework. This framework was introduced when the GCSE and equivalent cohort of 2022 started Year 9. Prior to this, the same cohort have experienced three additional changes to the framework during their school experience: in 2015 when they went into Year 5, in 2014 as they went into Year 4 (albeit an amendment following the launch of the new national curriculum in the same year) and in 2012 as they went into Year 2. Navigating each change to the inspection regime incurs a workload. This workload impacts on staff and students, as staff manage the change in expecation and navigate students through it without disadvantaging them in the process. As to whether the impact can be measured is debatable. What has Ofsted achieved for these students over the 12 years they have been in the system?

30 years of Ofsted – many happy returns? We can only hope that their existance has been and continues to be worth it, especially as we have no choice in the matter. Will you be raising a glass to toast this milestone birthday?