Ofsted "Culpable" For Poor Children Falling Further Behind, Says Body's Former Head
2 min read
Ofsted is "at fault and culpable" for disadvantaged pupils falling further behind their peers, the former chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has told PoliticsHome.
WIlshaw said he was unsurprised that the disadvantage gap has widened in recent years and blamed what he described as the body's lack of focus on pupil outcomes.
"Ofsted don't look at how poor children are doing.
"It's not a surprise to me that poor children are falling further and further behind. Ofsted is at fault and culpable for not focusing sufficient time on outcomes," said Wilshaw, who was head of the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills between 2012-2016.
Ofsted is the government body responsible for inspecting schools and other providers of education in England.
Wilshaw was speaking following the news that the body will launch a new school inspection system in September 2025.
PoliticsHome understands that under the proposals, the report cards will include brief judgments in 10 areas of evaluation, with each of those areas given a colour rating.
As the FT first reported, those 10 areas of assessment are curriculum, teaching, achievement, leadership, behaviour and values, attendance, preparation for next steps, opportunities to thrive, inclusion and belonging, and safeguarding.
The inspectorate plans to start a formal consultation on the new system of school inspection before the rollout next year.
Wilshaw said it "sounds like Ofsted is focusing on outcomes now which is a positive" and dismissed claims that reforms to school inspection are being made too quickly.
"This framework has been problematic and hasn't delivered the goods and it needs to change. You have to move quickly on that," he said.
He added that Ofsted had been "focusing too much on curriculum" in recent years.
Ofsted did not comment when approached by PoliticsHome.
It comes after the Government announced this year that Ofsted’s headline gradings would be scrapped and replaced with report cards next year.
Recent analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) found that the disadvantage gap in primary and secondary school had grown to its widest point since 2012.
Reacting to the news at the time, sector leaders said that the widening of the attainment gap was a "national tragedy".
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