Decision to stick with single-word Ofsted judgments is all about control, not what is best for schools – former inspector

By Colin Diamond, Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Birmingham

In April 2024 the Department for Education announced that there were “no plans” to change single-word Ofsted judgments. These give schools inspected by the education standards regulator an overall rating of outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

In doing so, the government has decided to ignore a consensus of heavyweight opinion in favour of abolishing single-word judgments. These include the House of Commons Education Committee,…

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