More than 500 complaints about Ofsted inspectors last year, FOI request reveals

Hundreds of complaints were logged about the conduct of Ofsted inspectors in England last year – with a school leaders’ union warning the inspectorate may have “lost the trust of the profession”.

New figures, obtained by the PA news agency’s Radar service through a freedom of information (FOI) request, show there were 1,199 complaints about Ofsted handled in the year to March 2023.

Of these, 502 included concerns about the behaviour of inspectors.

Over a three-year period, Ofsted dealt with 2,237 complaints – with 938 relating to inspectors’ conduct.

Across all complaints, just 18 were fully upheld last year, but Ofsted was found to be partially in the wrong in 263 cases.

The inspectorate is responsible for monitoring various educational and childcare settings, such as schools, early years and social care providers.

Ofsted’s inspection process has come under greater scrutiny in the past year, following the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry. In December a coroner ruled an inspection “likely contributed” to her death, after her school was downgraded from the highest to the lowest rating over safeguarding concerns.

Last year, the number of complaints rose as inspections returned to pre-pandemic levels – with one complaint for every 40 inspections.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the large number of complaints “strongly suggests Ofsted has lost the trust of the profession”.

Tom Middlehurst, inspection specialist at the ASCL, said it was “particularly concerning” so many complaints were about the conduct of inspectors.

He hopes recent mental health training and a more supportive approach from the chief inspector will bring the number down.

NAHT, a union for school leaders, said it welcomed measures to improve the complaints process last year – but it would still like to see an independent body handling them.

Paul Whiteman (pictured), general secretary of the union, said: “More broadly, fundamental reform of the way Ofsted operates is urgently needed to improve the reliability and usefulness of inspections, while reducing the unacceptable toll on the wellbeing and mental health of leaders and teachers.”

In January the House of Commons Education Committee recommended Ofsted conduct an in-depth review of its complaints process, after hearing evidence the inspectorate was “marking its own homework”.

The committee further heard evidence from school staff that the workload required to prepare for inspections can feel “crushing” and “relentless”.

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We want to make sure that our work is always carried out with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect. In the vast majority of cases it is – but we take all complaints very seriously.

“We understand that some have found our complaints process difficult to navigate, so we recently introduced a new, more transparent process, including the option for leaders to call a senior person at Ofsted if they have any concerns during their inspection.

“We consulted on these measures and they were strongly supported by the sectors we inspect.”

Ofsted said it will respond to the Education Committee’s findings in the coming weeks.

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