Buckinghamshire teachers have spoken of their frustrations with school inspections after the government signalled that it remained committed to single-word Ofsted judgements.

One teacher and former headteacher in the county said there more useful methods to evaluate schools than rating them ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’.

Speaking anonymously, he told the Bucks Free Press: “I cannot stand the single-word judgements.

“It is useful shorthand for parents trying to choose a school, but if you speak to mums at the school gate, I would say that is far more useful than a single-word judgement.”

The teacher claimed that a school he was head of suffered a lack of interest from parents of prospective pupils due to Ofsted’s rating.

He said: “For two years I knew we were making a big difference in the school I was at. But we still had that ‘requires improvement’ judgement from Ofsted hanging over us. So, a lot of people just wouldn’t even come and have a look and that is a real problem.

“But as teachers, as ever, we are quite hypocritical because we say we don’t like it and then as soon as we get a ‘good’ or an ‘outstanding’, we stick it all over our banners and on our website to let everybody know.”

Some education leaders called for Ofsted’s single-word system of ratings to be scrapped following the death of Ruth Perry.

READ MORE: Hospital tower cladding removed to stop ‘risk of death’ from falling panels

The headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Reading took her own life in January 2023 after her school was downgraded from outstanding to inadequate due to safeguarding concerns following an inspection in November 2022.

Coroner Heidi Connor said at Mrs Perry’s inquest in December that an Ofsted inspection had ‘contributed’ to her death.

Following the inquest, MPs on the Education Committee made a number of recommendations to Ofsted and the government, including that the inspectorate find an ‘alternative to the single-word judgements that better captures the complex nature of a school's performance’.

Ofsted has since responded to each of the committee’s recommendations and confirmed that from September, inspectors will no longer conduct subject ‘deep dives’ during ungraded inspections to ‘reduce the burden on school leaders’.

However, in its own response last month, the Department for Education suggested that it remained committed to single-word judgements, arguing that there were ‘significant benefits from having an Ofsted overall effectiveness grade’.

This week, Mrs Perry’s sister Professor Julia Waters reacted angrily to the lack of change, claiming in a BBC interview that there was ‘overwhelming evidence’ that single-word judgements were harmful.

Another Bucks teacher and former headteacher with 35 years’ experience stressed that Ofsted’s ratings system should never have been brought in in the first place.

She told this newspaper: “With a single word judgement, you get a snapshot of one day. It is never right. That is not the right way to go. Even that felt like a bit of a cost-cutting exercise when they originally brought that in.”

The teacher added: “I feel that headteachers are under tremendous pressure by Ofsted but that is not their only threat. The Ofsted agenda and the academisation agenda is the threat for headteachers.

“Academisation means that any complaint gets exaggerated into something much bigger than it is and headteachers go through much bigger and unfair processes when they are accused of something.”

A spokesperson for Ofsted told the Free Press that the inspectorate’s funding was limited to carrying out inspections, rather than carrying out school improvement or providing support to school leaders.

They said: “Ofsted aims always to be a force for good in this country, ensuring schools, children’s homes, nurseries and colleges deliver the highest standards of education and care to children.

“But we know we can improve. That is why we launched the ‘Big Listen’, which invites feedback from parents, professionals and children on everything we do.”

They also added that Ofsted aims for inspections to be carried out ‘with courtesy, empathy, respect and professionalism’ and that it made several changes to inspections to support school leaders’ wellbeing this year.

These included bringing in mental health awareness training for all its inspectors, updating its complaints policy, introducing a new policy on pausing and deferring inspections where appropriate.

Be the first to know about all things breaking news, court, and crime across Bucks! 📱💡 Unlimited local news, an ad-free app, and a digital replica of our print edition—all with 80% fewer ads on our site. Subscribe now for a faster news experience, click here for details.