Ofsted will proceed with a new "report card" system for inspecting schools in England from 10 November, the regulator confirmed, despite strong criticism from school leaders, teaching unions, campaigners and the family of a headteacher whose death prompted a review of the previous grading regime.
The new approach replaces the single-word overall judgments such as "outstanding" or "inadequate" with a five-point grading scale applied across a range of areas including curriculum and teaching, early years, achievement, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development and wellbeing, and attendance and behaviour. Report cards will also state whether safeguarding standards have been met, describe what it is like to be a pupil at the school, outline next steps for improvement and provide details of the inspection itself. Ofsted said a revamped monitoring system will allow quicker reinspection of areas identified as needing improvement.
Officials said the change is intended to give parents more detailed information about school performance and to support a new school improvement framework aimed at turning around "stuck" schools that have received consecutive negative judgments. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the report cards "will raise the bar for standards across the board, shining a light on what's working and where change is needed," and that the system would give parents "the transparency they deserve and schools the tools to improve."
Ofsted's chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said the reforms had been "long in the making" and promised a "steady and assured start". He rejected comparisons between the new five-grade judgements and the previous overall ratings, saying the report cards would provide a fairer assessment by describing a school's strengths alongside areas for improvement.
The move has drawn immediate criticism from a coalition that includes former inspectors, campaigners and school leaders. In a joint letter to Ms. Phillipson, the group — which includes Professor Julia Waters, the sister of headteacher Ruth Perry — urged a delay to the rollout and said the plans "continue to pose a risk to the health and wellbeing of teachers and school leaders." Professor Waters said the proposals were "not a new system" but a "cosmetic rebranding, tweaking and expansion of the same unreliable and punishing system as the one before." A coroner previously concluded an Ofsted inspection contributed to Ruth Perry's death in 2023, prompting the scrapping of the one- and two-word grading system last year and the launch of a consultation on alternatives earlier this year.
Leaders of several unions echoed those concerns. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said the new system represented "more of the same. More pressure. More ranking and competition. More labels." Paul Whiteman of the NAHT said the proposals risked perpetuating a "high-stakes punitive regime" for teachers, and Pepe Di'lasio of the Association of School and College Leaders warned that implementation was being rushed and would impose heavy demands on school staff and inspectors alike.
Some sector bodies welcomed parts of the reform while urging caution on timing. David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said feedback had prompted positive changes and that the organisation would support colleges in adopting the new system, but he expressed concern about implementing it at a busy time of year.
Ofsted published an independent assessment of the proposed system's likely impact on staff wellbeing alongside the announcement. The review, by Sinéad McBrearty of the Education Support charity, recommended that Ofsted make reducing the high-stakes nature of accountability a priority and that the government expand wellbeing and personal support for teachers and school leaders who experience a poor inspection.
The Department for Education said the report cards will form part of a wider improvement system that includes regional improvement teams, which the department said will reach 377 schools this term. Ofsted has said the report card system was proposed at the start of the year and was refined following a 12-week consultation.
Critics have asked the education secretary to intervene and delay the rollout while further safeguards and measures to protect staff wellbeing are considered. Ofsted and the department have said the changes are designed to be a fairer, more detailed way of assessing schools and to strengthen support for schools that need help to improve. Additional reporting by Nathan Standley.