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Press release: Three quarters of schools believe Ofsted's new inspection system has already contributed to school improvement, according to an independent study

A separate Ofsted report finds most pupils and headteachers think inspectors’ letters to pupils are a good idea

Three quarters of schools, surveyed for an independent evaluation of the new inspection system introduced by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in September 2005, believe the new inspections have already contributed to improvement.

The interim report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), published today, also found that 85 per cent of the 134 schools surveyed agreed that the new inspection system is likely to contribute to school improvement in the future. In addition, 66 per cent completely agreed with Ofsted’s recommendations for improvement (31 per cent partially agreed) and 92 per cent of respondents thought the recommendations were helpful.

Impact of Section 5 inspections: maintained schools in England, found that the vast majority of schools surveyed were satisfied with their inspection. Most schools were positive about the quality of, and time spent on, inspection, and nearly all survey respondents and many interviewees in the 36 case-study schools visited by the researchers appreciated the professional way in which the inspectors had acted.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, Maurice Smith, said:

“This is the first time Ofsted has subjected any school inspection system to independent and rigorous external scrutiny and I am delighted that this report shows that many schools believe the new shorter, sharper inspections are already having a positive impact on school improvement.

“In addition, the vast majority of schools surveyed were satisfied with their inspection. Schools will be reassured to know that when Ofsted itself was inspected, it performed well with some outstanding features.”

Schools considered the main benefit of inspection to be the validation of areas for improvement that they had previously identified themselves, rather than in the identification of additional areas. As one deputy headteacher said, ‘The inspectors formalised what was already known by the school but having it down in black and white is enormously helpful – it needed to be said’. Other headteachers said their reports had helped make local authorities more aware of the issues schools faced.

Sixty three per cent of headteachers thought the new inspection system is less stressful than the previous system. The completion of the self-evaluation form, while considered a time-consuming process by some, was viewed positively by most respondents with 97 per cent regarding the form as helpful for self-evaluation. One respondent told the NFER, ‘Although the self-evaluation form is not compulsory I’m glad we had done it and we will continue to do it as it is a useful tool’.

The oral feedback and accompanying on-going dialogue were viewed as very important and integral parts of the school inspection process. Comments from survey respondents also suggested that, although the inspections are shorter, inspectors still managed to make contact with a fair spread of groups within the school.

Overall, the written inspection reports were largely perceived to be fair and accurate, although sometimes too generalised. The report also suggests that inspectors need to be more consistent in engaging in dialogue with the school and in using data, and that they should provide more specific recommendations for improvement, particularly in schools graded 3 (satisfactory).

Mr Smith added:

“The more critical parts of the report are extremely useful. Ofsted has already acted on some of the issues raised, for example the precision of recommendations in school reports and concerns about the use of data but, nevertheless, we will continue to work to improve the system further.”

The NFER’s findings are complemented by Ofsted’s own evaluation of the new school inspection system, School inspection: an evaluation, which is also published today. Between September 2005 and Easter 2006, Ofsted undertook 3,984 section 5 inspections under the Education Act 2005. The inspections were conducted efficiently, with initial operational difficulties affecting a minority of inspections being overcome as familiarity with the new system increased.

Ofsted found that the new system is regarded positively by schools, parents, governors and local authorities. The costs for schools and for Ofsted have been reduced significantly, while the inspections were having a positive impact in promoting school improvement. The report includes the findings from Ofsted’s School Inspection Survey, which show that a higher proportion of headteachers than under the previous system considered that the benefits of inspection outweighed the negative aspects.

School inspectors’ letters to pupils: lessons learned and ways forward is also published today and presents the results of a survey of head teachers’ and pupils’ views about the letters to pupils that are written by inspectors as part of the inspection report.

Ofsted found that, of the 45 headteachers surveyed, just under seven out of 10 were very pleased with the letter. An additional two out of 10 were satisfied with the letter, although some of these had minor criticisms of content and style, most of which had been adjusted to their satisfaction with the lead inspector. Slightly more than one in 10 headteachers were unhappy with the letter, although some of these acknowledged that it was a fair reflection of the report’s findings. Overall, more than nine out of 10 headteachers felt that the letter fairlyreflected the key points in the report.

The majority of pupils agreed or strongly agreed that the inspection letters were a good idea. Some pupils felt valued because they could see that their contribution to the inspection process was recognised within the letters.

Mr Smith said:

“For the first time the pupil letters allow us to share our findings directly with children and young people and I am delighted that they have been welcomed so positively by the majority of headteachers and pupils.”

In primary schools, some of the younger pupils had difficulty in understanding the content of the letter. Ofsted now intends to offer more advice to inspectors about appropriate styles of writing for different age groups. Almost all pupils were given, or had access to, a copy of the letter although schools acknowledged that strategies to discuss the content of the letters with pupils were generally underdeveloped.

Notes For Editors

1. School inspection: an evaluation, School inspectors’ letters to pupils: lessons learned and ways forward and Impact of Section 5 inspections: maintained schools in England are available on the Ofsted website.

2. Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department established under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 to take responsibility for the inspection of all schools in England. Its role also includes the inspection of further education, local authority children’s services, teacher training institutions and some independent schools. During 2001, Ofsted became responsible for inspecting all 16-19 education and for the regulation of early years childcare, including childminders.

3. The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is the largest independent educational research institution in Europe. Its aim is to improve education and training, nationally and internationally, by undertaking research that provides high quality, evidence-based information for policy makers, managers, teachers and anyone interested in education. NFER undertakes around 200 research projects every year and its work spans all sectors of education, from pre-school to lifelong learning. For more information visit www.nfer.ac.uk or contact Gail Goodwin on 01753 637159, g.goodwin@nfer.ac.uk

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