The Department for Education has confirmed that it is scrapping single headline Ofsted grades for schools, as part of a move to improve standards and increase transparency.
Coming into effect immediately, the decision has been made as the government believes that single headline grades don’t provide a fair and accurate assessment of school performance, whilst also only being supported by a minority of teachers and parents. The new system will instead support the government’s goals of improving the standards across a number of areas in schools.
The change for this academic year will see schools graded across four sub-categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. By using this system, Ofsted will work towards the introduction of School Report Cards for the 2025-2026 school year – bringing a new level of insight for parents to see how their child’s school is performing.
According to the Department for Education, the School Report Card system is favoured by 77% of parents.
Commenting on this change, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“The need for Ofsted reform to drive high and rising standards for all our children in every school is overwhelmingly clear. The removal of headline grades is a generational reform and a landmark moment for children, parents, and teachers.
“Single headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing – that’s what our report cards will provide.
“This government will make inspection a more powerful, more transparent tool for driving school improvement. We promised change, and now we are delivering.”
As the government works to continue to support schools that are struggling, the new inspection system will ensure that the quality of the education and the experience of children is the focus, rather than simply changing the management within the school. Alongside this, early 2025 will bring the introduction of Regional Improvement Teams to work alongside schools and rapidly address areas of weakness.
Image credit: iStock and the Houses of Parliament
