Ofsted - Inspectors lack key skills

[pcstru]

Or perhaps Ofsted - Requiring Improvement.

[sparkeh]

One of the problems with Ofsted is the lack of consistency in inspections. It has always seemed to me that if you are hitting the right notes for the particular inspection team that you happen to get you are fine, whereas a different set of inspectors would produce different findings. This was highlighted to me by a school I know of that was put into special measures after the initial inspection. The head of the follow up inspection team said (off the record of course) that she wasn't sure why the school had been put in special measures. Of course Ofsted will tell you that this never happens and all the inspectors follow the same criteria. I just don't think that this is true.

 

Edit: Also this report was from The Policy Exchange, generally thought to not be an admirer of Osted.

Edited March 18, 2014 by sparkeh

[Gibbo]

Something similar has happened in Warrington:

 

How does a school rated the best in Warrington get told it needs to improve by Ofsted

How does a school rated the best in Warrington get told it needs to improve by Ofsted (From Warrington Guardian)

[LosOjos]

I have been told by a few schools that they were chastised by Ofsted inspectors for not providing teachers with printed copies of key data, despite the fact that they showed that all of this data was available easily on the school network and that every classroom had a PC in it. In this day and age, I find that appalling.

 

All anecdotal of course but I have no reason not to believe those who told me this.