Ofsted considers replacing glitchy evidence-gathering system

System used by inspectors dogged by problems which have seen evidence wiped

Lydia Chantler-Hicks

‘Problematic from the outset’

Newman added that it was “essential” members “have access to reliable and top class digital tools to deliver for parents and children”.

Former HMI Frank Norris said he too was “pleased to discover Ofsted is reviewing the EEG”, describing it as “problematic from the outset”.

He said he recently heard of an inspection at which the “system crashed and significant amounts of evidence were lost”.

“Completing inspections in the available time is tough without having these additional burdens thrown in as well.”

Norris said inspectors regularly reported having “little confidence in the EEG” and “many…have created protocols and processes to ensure they are not left high and dry when the system crashes”.

Long history of glitches

Developed for Ofsted in 2017, the EEG was launched for all schools, FE and skills inspections in September 2019. It was then rolled out to initial teacher education inspections in 2021.

Both full-time his majesty’s inspectors (HMI) and part-time Ofsted inspectors use it to record written notes during inspections, which are uploaded to a cloud.

Following the on-site part of inspections, a lead inspector uses their team’s notes to write a draft inspection report.

Ofsted said the electronic system helped inspectors better “review and synthesise their notes” and offered a “notable improvement” in security.

But Schools Week revealed in 2024 that long-running issues meant inspectors had for years suffered glitches that wiped data about inspections.

‘Disappearing’ evidence

Inspectors described how screens would freeze and evidence “disappeared” before their eyes mid-visit. Others found evidence had been wiped after they had left the inspection.

This prompted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver to commission a rapid review.

The internal investigation revealed that of the 26,431 inspections made using the EEG between February 2021 and May 2024, inspectors reported evidence was lost in 191 cases.

Only four of these resulted in inspectors returning to gather extra evidence, while the inspectorate said it was “confident that the judgement…is secure” for the other 187.

The report noted benefits of the EEG, such as “significantly” strengthening the quality assurance process.

But it acknowledged there “have been some technical issues with stability and reliability” since it was introduced. It said some issues were linked to the application itself, and some to the Microsoft technology it was built on.

‘Technical issues’ persist

The review said Ofsted hae made improvements over time, but there were “still issues with the application intermittently ‘freezing’ and closing unexpectedly” on some inspections which it said “does create uncertainty and additional workload for inspectors”.

The issues have continued since the renewed education inspection framework was launched late last year.

In an email to inspectors in December, Ofsted revealed “an underlying technical issue” had been “causing EEG to freeze when inspectors type notes directly into the application”.

Ofsted said a “contingency plan” had been put in place. It is understood this involves inspectors recording notes using Microsoft Word. But there have been reports of crashes when the data is finally uploaded to Ofsted’s system.

Contingency still in place

Ofsted’s email in December said this was “a temporary measure” and that it would provide an update by February half-term.

However, the watchdog confirmed on Monday the contingency arrangement is still in place.

A spokesperson said Ofsted is working with Microsoft, and is currently testing a fix to the platform on which the EEG was built.

“Once we have confirmed it is working reliably, we will consider whether we transition back to using EEG until any new digital tools are ready to launch.”