Campaigners say the inspectorate has ‘done more harm than good’ and propose a research-based alternative model to run in parallel

A growing group of senior education experts, including Professors Peter Tymms and Frank Coffield, are calling for a fundamental change to England’s school inspection system, warning that Ofsted has failed in its mission to raise educational standards, and in doing so, has harmed both staff morale and student learning.

‘Ofsted has been doing more harm than good for 30 years,’ said Professor Peter Tymms, who recently became disillusioned with the inspection system after a school — where he serves as a governor — received a ‘Good’ rating. Despite this, staff were left demoralized and unimpressed by what Tymms describes as ‘woeful’ advice. He attributed this to ‘an ignorance of the evidence base of interventions and a lack of sensitivity.’

Tymms is now working with Professor Frank Coffield, a fellow emeritus professor, to develop an alternative approach under the banner Transform Inspection for Good. The initiative draws from the work presented in Coffield’s book, Will the Leopard Change Its Spots?, which outlines a new model of inspection that was submitted to Ofsted but ‘had no impact.’

The pair have received input and advice on earlier drafts from a host of leading education scholars, including Professors Robin Alexander, John Gray, Matt O’Leary, Chris Pascal, Elizabeth Wood, and John Bangs. Professor Bruce Carrington also contributed to the visual materials. However, Tymms and Coffield acknowledge that ‘the opinions and mistakes in the present document belong to [them].’

The Alternative Big Listen, funding by many leading commentators and practitioners, including Professor Julia Waters, sister of Ruth Perry, Colin Richards and Frank Norris. It highlights widespread dissatisfaction with proposed Ofsted reforms. According to the findings, ‘80% of respondents felt the proposed Ofsted changes were either largely unfit for purpose or unfit for purpose.’

The Tymms and Coffield group’s proposals come at a time when Ofsted ratings are rising, but, they argue, without corresponding gains in student achievement. ‘During the time of rising Ofsted ratings the international test results have flatlined. It looks as though people are just getting better at responding to inspection!’ they write.

On the question of parent information, they promise that families ‘will be given good information about schools. The intention is that it will be of higher quality than that provided by Ofsted and more reliable.’

Addressing suggestions that Ofsted’s own reform efforts should be given time, they counter: ‘The leopard does not change its spots. We need a radical alternative and we need to run it alongside Ofsted for several years so that we can compare different inspection approaches.’

Their model proposes that while accountability remains essential, it should not come ‘to the detriment of the psychological well-being of staff.’ For underperforming schools, they propose withholding a public rating and instead offering support ‘to address and solve those problems.’

The team also disputes longstanding claims about the effectiveness of ‘Special Measures’ as a school improvement strategy, arguing that previous research in support of the measure was ‘based on a statistical blunder’ and that the reality often includes reputational damage, lower enrolment, and difficulty retaining quality staff.

Ofsted’s approach, they write, ‘has failed over 30 years to increase achievements. Ours will result in small, incremental improvements which will slowly become continuous.’ Where Ofsted ‘creates a culture of fear,’ they propose an alternative based on ‘mutual trust.’

They also critique Ofsted’s inspection materials, stating that ‘there are five such toolkits and the one for schools runs for 30 pages, packed with excessive and labyrinthine expectations, 330 in total.’ Reaching the middle grade of ‘secure,’ they note, requires meeting 100 standards — giving inspectors ‘too much scope… to find causes for concern.’

Professor Tymms points to long-term stagnation in literacy as evidence that Ofsted has not raised standards, particularly in English. ‘One fact that particularly affects English teachers, and which has not yet figured largely in the public debate, is the evidence that Ofsted has failed to raise standards in English,’ he writes. Referring to OECD’s PISA results, Tymms notes that while the UK performs well in reading literacy, ‘it always has. Things have not changed since PISA started and there is good evidence for constant literacy levels before that. That flat lining also holds for maths and science.’

Tymms also expressed concern over Ofsted’s impact on teacher well-being, referencing the case of Ruth Perry, the headteacher who took her own life following an inspection. ‘Ofsted has instilled fear into the teaching profession with suicides being just the tip of the iceberg,’ he writes, and criticizes the agency for not implementing all recommendations made by the coroner. Professor Julia Waters, Perry’s sister, remains outspoken on this issue.

Concluding their appeal, Tymms and Coffield urge teachers and the public to support their campaign: ‘We feel that we must maintain the momentum for change and that is why we would like your support for our initiative to Transform Inspection for Good.’ They invite others to share their inspection experiences via their website — anonymously if preferred — at www.inspect4good.uk.