BBC Mar 10, 2010

Inspectors now assess schools in a "short, sharp" fashion

More schools are being judged inadequate under a new inspection regime, figures from England's schools watchdog are expected to show.

Ofsted introduced a new framework in September 2009 which requires schools to achieve higher results to be rated as good or outstanding.

The watchdog has insisted its new-style inspections would "raise the bar" on its expectations of schools.

Data on schools' performance under the system will be released on Wednesday.

Last week the Times Educational Supplement said the new regime had seen a near doubling in the proportion of schools judged "inadequate", while the proportion rated "outstanding" was less than half of what it used to be.

But inspectors said they now had "higher expectations on behalf of pupils and parents".

It is no surprise if there is a rise in inadequate schools - it just reflects the fact that the bar has been raised Department for Children, Schools and Families

A spokesman for Ofsted said: "We have made it clear that every time an inspection framework is revised, expectations are raised too."

Ofsted said the reaction from schools had been "overwhelmingly positive", with nine out of 10 who had responded to feedback surveys saying they were satisfied with the way inspection was carried out.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "We made clear in the schools White Paper last June that inspection from September would be more challenging.

"It is no surprise if there is a rise in inadequate schools - it just reflects the fact that the bar has been raised and weaker schools are being inspected earlier in the cycle."

New regime

Under the new arrangements, outstanding and good schools are only inspected once within a five-year period - previously it was every three years.

Satisfactory schools are inspected every three years and inadequate schools are visited regularly until they make the improvements necessary.

The new regime sees inspectors assess twice as many lessons and more emphasis is put on questionnaires filled out by parents and pupils.

Inspectors put more emphasis on pupil attainment - a point which has caused controversy, particularly for schools in challenging areas - rather than on improvement.

Schools are given two days' warning of an inspection and the inspections lasts for two days.

Ofsted said the new format was introduced in response to teachers' concerns inspections focused too much on schools data and inspectors did not assess enough lessons.

The watchdog said more than 2,000 inspections had been carried out under the new system between September and December last year.

Chris Richardson, head teacher at the Kings of Wessex School in Somerset, said the new inspection framework brought "significant improvements", particularly a sharper focus on student achievement.

"A new self-evaluation form meant we felt well prepared for inspection and it gave the inspectors a good overview of the school.

"Our students valued the opportunities to engage with the inspectors and give their perspective on the school."

But John Fairhurst, head of Shenfield High School in Essex, said the new inspection framework had downgraded his school from good with outstanding features to satisfactory, simply because the school's GCSE results in 2008 were weak.

"It's become a rather skimpy inspection with an altered agenda - heavily data driven," he said.

"The framework proved, in our case, superficial and underestimated the good work of the school."

The Association for School and College Leaders and the National Association of Head Teachers are also critical of the regime, saying it puts too much emphasis on raw attainment.