Ofsted inspections causing teachers ‘harm’ and making them want to quit, union warns

The report came after headteachers also warned following their own survey this week that Ofsted’s new inspection framework has continued to cause them undue stress

Ofsted’s inspection system is causing “harm” to teachers and making them want to quit the profession, the largest education union in the UK has said, despite new reforms designed to ease the stress on staff.

School staff do not feel reforms to inspections are an improvement and a sense of dread towards upcoming inspection remains “significant and pervasive”, a report by the National Education Union (NEU) has suggested. Ofsted introduced a new report card system to replace its previous judgements, delivered in one or two words ranging from “urgent improvement” to “exceptional” last November.

The changes were made following the death of Ruth Perry, a headteacher who died by suicide in January 2023 after the inspector downgraded her school rating from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

An inquest found the inspection, which “lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity” and was at times “rude and intimidating”, contributed to her death. An online survey of more than 1,500 NEU members in England who had experienced inspection under the new framework, found that 26% said their recent experience of inspection made them want to leave the profession.

The survey, which was carried out in June, suggests nearly two in three respondents – 65 percent – said the new framework felt the same as before or worse.

More than four in five NEU members surveyed reported that a recent Ofsted inspection had had a negative impact on their stress levels. The findings come just days after the NAHT school leaders’ union called for a halt to graded Ofsted inspections amid fears that they pose a risk to life.

The NEU has called on Ofsted to introduce a narrative-based school inspection report to replace the five-point grading scale.

In the NEU report on inspection under the new framework, a senior leader in a secondary school said: “It felt like something that was done to us, not with us. I watched the mental health of my colleagues plummet during and after the inspection.”

“During the reading of the report at the end, a deputy head teacher was visibly sobbing but the last inspector did not pause or acknowledge the distress she was in.”

A primary school teacher at another school said: “I did not sleep. I cried constantly. It was a circle of stress and fear.”Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: “It is just not acceptable that the new framework is driving this amount of stress and harm to the mental and physical health of school staff.

“How can we carry on with an inspection framework that makes a quarter want to leave the profession? This is not the progress that the profession called for two years ago.

“Ofsted have failed to take feedback seriously and seem oblivious to the cost and danger to leaders and teachers’ working lives and health.” He added: “We call on (Ofsted chief inspector) Sir Martyn Oliver to seriously engage with the findings about the intense workload and poor health directly driven by his new Nando’s score cards and framework.”

“These findings show preventable harms and we can’t look away from those.” An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Ofsted exists to raise standards for children and to provide clear reporting to parents.

“Over the last three years, we have worked closely with teaching unions to deliver significant reforms to how Ofsted inspections work, while keeping our focus on what children and parents need from us.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We know that inspection and accountability are essential to ensuring that every child has the best educational experience – equally, this should not come at the expense of teacher and headteacher wellbeing, something we take incredibly seriously.

“That’s why we’re continuing to work closely with Ofsted and school leaders to make sure inspections are collaborative, constructive and, most importantly, fair.

“At the same time, we’re backing the great staff who transform our country’s schools – including offering mentoring, coaching and wellbeing support through our Excellence in Leadership offer for headteachers, helping schools learn from each other on flexible working and managing workloads, and announcing a pay award that will benefit teachers, teaching assistants and support staff alike.”

The new comes after the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said this week that nearly three-quarters of school leaders feel the direction of travel on the inspections has worsened over the last year, following results of a more than 5,000-person survey delivered just a week after one teacher experienced a heart attack mid-inspection.

The NAHT warned just ahead of the one-year anniversary of a watchdog’s decision to scrap single-word judgements for schools that the change has not eased pressure on schools leaders.

Ministers, the union said, should swap out the English education inspectorate’s “high-stakes, low-trust” grades for a shorter narrative report on schools’ strengths and areas where they can develop.

The NAHT’s general secretary has said the change to Ofsted’s system, which introduced report cards to grade schools in several key areas in a bid to ease pressure on leaders, is “even more stressful”. Paul Whiteman said: “The clear theme emerging across all the feedback we have received is that this Ofsted framework is even more stressful than the one that preceded it.”

“It poses a real and present danger to the well-being and mental health of school leaders and teachers, possibly even a risk to life.”

The union has called on all Ofsted inspections to be halted while a review is carried out into how they work. Mr Whiteman said examples of “damaging experiences” of heads have been sent to Lucy Powell, the education secretary.

Among heads who have spoken out on their experiences is Amanda Hulme, the head teacher at Claypool Primary School in Bolton.

She said a recent inspection at her school was “easily the most stressful” experience of her career, and “deeply damaging” to her health. The head said: “It was definitely damaging to my health and really quite distressing. I couldn’t sleep and it led to my blood pressure and pulse rate increasing.

“The effect on my team has also been significant, with some colleagues no longer wanting to pursue headship and another teacher considering leaving the profession entirely.”

Mr Whiteman said: “We warmly welcome the new education secretary’s recent words stating how seriously she takes leader wellbeing and her determination to get not just the Ofsted framework, but the whole culture of accountability, right.

“A system which leaves leaders and their teams feeling so anxious, overwhelmed and demoralised both before and after inspections isn’t just bad for their health – it cannot be conducive to ensuring children receive the first-rate education they deserve.

“Really fundamental changes to inspection are needed, and we stand ready to work with the new government to achieve that.” Ofsted said it has been working with teacher unions over the last three years to deliver significant reforms to the system and reduce unnecessary pressure on teachers.

A spokesperson added: “Ofsted exists to raise standards for children and to provide clear reporting to parents. We will continue to engage closely with trades unions – but we will also continue to grade schools.”

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