Changes to Ofsted school grading system welcomed, but unions seek deeper reforms

The Department for Education said on 2 September that it will change the current method of awarding single headline grades to schools of Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate, with immediate effect. However, schools will still be assessed using four sub-categories: quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management.

Photograph: NASUWT

From September 2025, ‘School Report Cards’ will be introduced instead, which the Government said would provide parents with “a full and comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing”.

“The removal of headline grades is a generational reform and a landmark moment for children, parents and teachers,” said Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. “Parents deserve a much clearer, broader picture of how schools are performing – that’s what our report cards will provide.”

When schools are identified as struggling, the Government said it would “prioritise rapidly getting plans in place to improve the education and experience of children, rather than relying purely on changing schools’ management”.

The reforms follow the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life in January 2023 while awaiting the results of an Ofsted inspection. An inquest into her death found that the inspection had been a contributing factor. Earlier this year, Ofsted’s new chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, apologised for its role in Ruth Perry’s death and promised to listen to the views of education workers, parents and children.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, said the decision to scrap the overarching grades was “a welcome interim measure”. He added: “There is much work to do now to design a fundamentally different long-term approach to inspection, and we look forward to working with government to achieve that.

“Where necessary, in cases of the most serious concern, government will continue to intervene, including by issuing an academy order, which may, in some cases, mean transferring to new management.”

The NASUWT teaching union also welcomed scrapping the headline grading system, but called for the reforms to go further.

“Whilst today’s announcements are an important step in the right direction, it remains the case that in the absence of root and branch reform to fix the foundations of the broken accountability system, teachers and school leaders will continue to work in a system that remains flawed,” said NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach. “We will be calling on the Education Secretary to go further with legislative change to end the fallacy that academy conversion is the only route to securing the improvements our schools need. We need to see urgency of action from the Government here, too.”