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Reforms to Ofsted’s 2025 school inspection framework for England emerged in the shadow of tragedy. They followed a into the death of a headteacher Ruth Perry, which concluded that Ofsted had ‘contributed’ to her suicide while she was awaiting the publication of an inspection report. While deeply shocking, the concerns raised were not new. I have a long-term interest in inspection, and has long demonstrated Ofsted’s harmful side effects: increasing ; eroding ; and exacerbating longstanding problems. The tragedy brought these issues sharply into public view. Calls for fundamental reform intensified, reinforced by a that reported ‘deep concerns’ about the inspection system, and it appeared that the time had come to address the issues with Ofsted.

In response, Ofsted acknowledged the need for reform and launched an led by Christine Gilbert. This concluded that a ‘climate of fear and frustration around school inspection … had been building for years’. At the same time, Ofsted launched its ‘’ consultation, which was presented by the new chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver as an for genuine dialogue – ‘the co-construction with you, of Ofsted’s future’. It received 20,000 responses. However, scepticism quickly emerged. Two former Ofsted inspectors initiated the , arguing that the official consultation avoided difficult questions. The ABL findings were stark: 90 per cent of the 1,500 respondents believed Ofsted was not fit for purpose and supported a moratorium on routine inspections until a fundamental review could take place, with many urging ‘radical improvements to ensure inspection is more collaborative and responsive to the context in which schools work’. Education commentators and some MPs criticised Ofsted for disregarding these alternative findings.

‘90 per cent of the 1,500 respondents to the “Alternative Big Listen” believed Ofsted was not fit for purpose.’

Despite this, in September 2024 Ofsted announced a series of which included the abolition of the single grade, changes to inspection frameworks and improved communication with stakeholders. The removal of the single grade was welcomed (though unsurprising as it had been the new Labour government’s pre-election ), but education press coverage and union responses offered little indication that teachers viewed the response as substantively altering inspection stakes or workload.

In 2025, Ofsted launched a further to gather feedback on its proposed report‑card model, inspection methodology and grading language. Once again, organisers of the ABL responded with an , reflecting widespread concern that the official process remained superficial and failed to engage with deeper systemic problems. The results echoed earlier findings: only 10 per cent of respondents believed the proposals represented an improvement; 88 per cent judged the new scorecard model to be unfit or largely unfit for purpose; and nearly two‑thirds felt the proposals were worse than the existing system.

At the same time, Ofsted commissioned an independent of the revised framework. Its conclusions were unequivocal. There was, it stated, ‘a loud and clear call for Ofsted to halt the rollout of the current framework and to begin again in collaboration with the sector’ as ‘inspection remains personally demanding on leaders and staff’ and ‘educators continue to perceive the consequences as severe and anxiety-inducing’.

Criticism of the proposed framework intensified. School leaders and the Department for Education described it as , while concerns were also raised about Ofsted’s refusal to publish detailed consultation findings. Sir Martyn Oliver for a ‘granular breakdown’, suggesting they reflected a ‘fundamental misunderstanding of what a consultation is’.

Meanwhile, a of Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) members indicated that more than 70 per cent of school leaders were dissatisfied with the new system. was launched by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) in an attempt to delay implementation on the grounds of insufficient consultation, but the rollout was ultimately deemed lawful. Despite sustained opposition, the new framework was introduced in November 2025. Recent on headteachers who have been inspected reported that ‘nearly 70% … expressed negative views of the impact of inspection on their wellbeing’, a worrying statistic given the tragic incident that prompted the reform.

Throughout both official and alternative consultations, educators consistently called for more contextualised, less punitive approaches to school evaluation, an inspection system that lowered the stakes. Yet these perspectives appear to have exerted limited influence on the final framework. Taken together, the reforms raise a troubling question: Did Ofsted genuinely listen – or did consultation function primarily to legitimate decisions already made? The answer perhaps lies in Martyn Oliver’s before the Big Consultation that ‘the most vocal critics of the proposed reforms seem to be under the misapprehension that a new low-accountability system is possible. It isn’t’. Was it ever, despite a year earlier that ‘nothing, nothing, is off the table’?

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