Ofsted study finds consistency in double inspection decisions, but can’t rule out “unintentional influence” by inspectors
The schools inspectorate has released a study of the reliability of its new short inspections, taking an evidence-based approach to the issue.
It found that in 22 of the 24 short inspections included in the analysis, the two inspectors “agreed on their independent decision about whether the school remained good or the inspection should convert to gather more evidence”.
The study, titled “Do two inspectors inspecting the same school make consistent decisions?“, was published on Tuesday (3 March) along with a commentary from HMCI Amanda Spielman, her first in her new capacity as head of Ofsted.
Three North East schools were involved in the research:
- One was converted to a full inspection and remained good
- One was not converted so remained good
- One was converted and downgraded to RI
Ofsted says further research is needed to establish the effect that inspectors, different types of provision, or different school contexts will have a reliability. At the moment, Ofsted does not analyse inter-regional disparities.
However, Ofsted notes that the results should not be generalised more broadly “particularly to reflect the reliability of all types of Ofsted school inspection”. The sample size of 24 is very small and not representative, as all were above average size primary schools, with between 250-500 pupils on role (as it is standard practice to only have one inspector for these inspections).
The report also states that in some of these inspections the two independent inspectors “spoke to each other or participated in activities together beyond the agreed method design” and that “as such, unintentional influence by inspectors cannot be completely ruled out” – they do not mention how often these “small infractions” took place.
In January, SCHOOLS NorthEast analysis of data published by Ofsted (covering inspection outcomes released up to December 31) found that over half of section 5 inspections in North East schools were downgraded. Compared to other regions, the North East has the highest proportion of schools being downgraded, followed by the South West of England (46.94%).