Yet another stick
Teacher workload is a national concern.
The Teacher Wellbeing Index report for 2024 concluded that 84% of senior leaders and 78% of school teachers are “stressed” and the
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) shows secondary initial teacher training (ITT) recruitment reaching only half of its target, falling teacher recruitment and retention rates and teachers feeling they “spend too much time on administration, data input, marking and lesson planning”.
The proposed Ofsted report card for FE and skills inspection completely ignores all of this and under ‘leadership’, will grade workload using a descriptor in ‘causing concern’ of “staff workload is unsustainable”, and strong is where “staff morale and retention is high”. The national issue needs to be addressed first. It is disappointing that subjective descriptors are still being proposed to grade providers and being used to grade an area that is for the most part beyond the control of a leader. There will need to be clear guidance for inspection teams and providers on how ‘workload and staff morale’ is going to be measured; otherwise this will become yet another ‘stick to beat’ the profession with.
Justine Barlow
Principal
Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College
Flying below the radar
The proposed Ofsted report cards must be seen in the context of statutory powers the DfE has to intervene (
DfE Statutory Guidance on Support and Intervention in Schools, November 2024. This document states: “Regions group will only mandate academy conversion, governance change or academy trust transfer of a school in relation to educational standards if Ofsted has judged it to be ‘requires significant improvement’ or ‘special measures’.”
Under current proposals, Ofsted report cards identify nine separate areas for judgement, as opposed to what were formerly four. If any of the nine areas is judged ‘causing concern’, the outcome of the inspection will be at least ‘requires significant improvement’, triggering academisation for a local authority maintained school or the possibility of being moved into another trust if the school is already academised.
This is an implication currently ‘flying below the radar’ and begs the question of how regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) advisers might be deployed in following up on such judgements.
Ian Lane
Education Adviser
Missed opportunity
The framework as proposed is at odds with the moment. Almost as if it began with the answer and the time between has been spent searching for the right question. Can't work out whether Ofsted is about to eat itself or whether a conveyor belt of slightly different perverse incentives and unintended consequences to the ones before lie ahead. The timeline for implementation leads one to suspect the latter. A missed opportunity for our young people. A consultation response pointing out what needs attention and causes concern in the framework is on the to do list.
Guy Maidment
Headteacher
Dunraven School