Ofsted to standardise education inspections

A new inspection approach will allow parents to compare the quality of different education providers from September next year. Frameworks will be put in to place to standardise inspections across nurseries, schools and colleges.

Early proposals have been met with a largely positive reaction from the education sector, Purnima Tanuku the chief executive of the NDNA has said;

“The features of good provision are the same whether it is in early years or college. Strong leadership, learning and assessment are universal inspection targets, it is then vital inspectors are specifically trained for each sector.

“Ofsted must take this opportunity to make the routine inspection process consistent rather than carrying on with the current unfair system.”

The chief executive of PACEY has echoed the NDNA in their support for the new inspection framework,

“A consistent inspection framework will help parents to recognise high quality care across the entire education spectrum and has to be a positive step.

“PACEY welcomes the principle of a common inspection framework for early years, schools, further education and skills providers.”

However in the early years sector there has been a common point made that inspectors should be specifically trained for each individual sector. Neil Leitch, the chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance has said;

“The new common framework must understand that early years is a unique stage of education. Inspection criteria such as ‘quality of teaching, learning and assessment’ and ‘outcomes for children’ have very different meanings in an early years context, and this will need to be reflected in the inspection judgements.”