England school inspection system faces another overhaul after complaints

England’s school-inspection system is set for another overhaul after teachers and school leaders raised concerns that the new framework has increased stress and damaged mental health. Education Secretary Lucy Powell is expected to tell the schools regulator Ofsted to reconsider parts of the system introduced last year. Sources cited in the supplied report said she wanted inspectors to take greater account of the social and economic backgrounds of schools and pupils.

Powell is not expected to abandon the new report-card model, which assesses schools across six areas from “exceptional” to “urgent improvement”. Instead, she wants changes to how context, particularly inclusion, is measured. The National Association of Head Teachers welcomed the willingness to address concerns about fairness and comparability.

General secretary Paul Whiteman said schools served communities with different levels of disadvantage and special educational needs, which inspections should properly reflect. A survey of staff inspected under the new regime found that two-thirds considered it as bad as or worse than the former system. Three-quarters said inspections had negatively affected their mental health, according to the report.

The changes follow concerns that schools with high numbers of pupils receiving free school meals or needing special educational support were receiving lower ratings. Ofsted has commissioned an independent evaluation, with an interim report expected later in the year. Ofsted declined to comment.