New Ofsted report cards dubbed dangerous rehash’

Bridget Phillipson will promise a “new era for school standards” as Labour and Ofsted replace single-word judgements for schools with more detailed report cards.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

In a major speech today, the education secretary will vow to raise expectations of school leaders, with Ofsted’s new school inspections “shining a light on all the areas that matter, giving each their own grade”.

She will vow never to return to “the dark days of weak accountability”, setting out how Ofsted’s changes will help the government break the link between children’s background and success.

Ofsted’s new report cards will see schools graded across nine different areas - including attendance and inclusion – using a colour-coded five-point scale for each.

They would receive ratings – from the red coloured “causing concern” to orange coloured “attention needed”, through the green shades of “secure”, “strong” and “exemplary” - for each area of practice under proposals for Ofsted’s new report card system.

The report cards will start to be rolled out from September and will be fully introduced in November.

Ms Phillipson today will say: “Never will we go back to the dark days of weak accountability.

“Because it was the children from disadvantaged backgrounds who suffered the most. So today I am taking us into a new era on school standards. Our searchlight on poor performance must now become brighter, to see the problems of today and tomorrow quickly and clearly.

“So a more rigorous system, raising the bar of our expectations, on what good really looks like when it comes to the futures of our children.”

Labour vowed in opposition to revamp the current Ofsted grading system following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023.

But, in a blow to the plans, the sister of Perry has said she is worried the new Ofsted proposals are a “rehash” of the “dangerous” system they are supposed to replace.