Ofsted forced to change new report card rating system for schools after complaints that replacement for grade scale is 'too complicated'
Ofsted has been forced to ‘simplify’ its new report card system after criticism that the overhaul is ‘too complicated’.
The schools watchdog said it will have a rethink after teaching unions said it will cause more ‘stress and anxiety’.
Academy heads also labelled it ‘complex and burdensome’ while even the Tories have attacked it for being ‘complicated’ and ‘pleasing nobody’.
Last year, Ofsted scrapped overall judgements based on a four-grade scale of ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ and ‘inadequate’.
Under the proposals, schools will be rated using a new five-grade scale in eight key sub-categories, instead of just four categories under the old system.
But the ASCL headteachers’ union said the more detailed card will create ‘greater workload’, ‘introduce even greater anxiety’ and will not address ‘concerns about mental health and wellbeing’.
It said the ‘biggest concern’ was the additional fifth grade, which is called ‘exemplary’.
Rory Gribbell, Ofsted’s director of strategy and engagement, said he was ‘identifying areas that we need to improve’ from the feedback.
Ofsted has been forced to 'simplify' its new report card system after criticism that the overhaul is 'too complicated'
Writing for TES, he said: ‘We know how important it is to carefully design a process that always puts children’s safety and futures first, while also reducing any unnecessary pressure on the professionals we work with…
‘Yes, our proposed approach to grading is too complicated.
‘We’re looking hard at how we can simplify what’s proposed, including considering carefully the feedback we’re hearing on the new top grade.’
He added he has listened to criticism that ‘there are arguably too many evaluation areas’ and added: ‘we recognise there is some simplification to be done’.
It comes after the Confederation of School Trusts, which represents three quarters of England’s academies, also criticised the plans.
Deputy chief executive Steve Rollett said: ‘The framework risks becoming more, not less, complex and burdensome – introducing new criteria, more evaluation areas and an approach to grading that could confuse rather than clarify.’
He added: ‘In a high-stakes system, the rules of the game must be known.
‘We can’t have inspectors “sniffing the air” and forming their own hypotheses.’
The schools watchdog said it will have a rethink after teaching unions said it will cause more 'stress and anxiety' (pictured: an example of how Ofsted's new ratings system would look)
The overhaul was triggered after Labour won the election, with teachers hoping the redesign would mean less pressure for them.
They had spent months campaigning for change following the death of Ruth Perry in 2023, who committed suicide after her Caversham Primary School was downgraded from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’.
However, the new plans, released in January, has been labelled a ‘Nando’s spice chart’ by unions.
While schools will get no over-all rating, they will get a colour-coded card with grades for each category.
These include leadership and governance, curriculum, developing teaching and achievement.
The Tories have said they want the overall ratings to be reinstated, as they provide clarity to parents.
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said in January: ‘The previous system of one-word judgments from Ofsted provided clarity.
‘This new system is complicated and pleases nobody.’
Ofsted and the Department for Education have been contacted for comment.
