“There’s no doubt that there is an overwhelming need for a greater level of independent oversight when it comes to handling Ofsted complaints. This is something ASCL has been calling for for a long time and today’s announcement is overdue. This additional layer of scrutiny will give some more assurance to school and college leaders. Currently, only 25% of complaints have any aspect upheld and this is a source of real frustration when schools feel they have been treated unfairly.
“We look forward to feeding back to Ofsted on how this new service works in reality. However, it’s important to realise that this will not address the central issue of why so many schools feel compelled to complain in the first place. We still feel there is a need for a pause and review of the inspection system to give proper consideration to these issues, including the problems caused by the secure fit methodology, failure to properly consider context, and the impact that inspections are having on the health and wellbeing of school and college leaders. There is much more that needs to be done to restore confidence.”