Inspections are harming wellbeing, FE staff tell Ofsted

Three quarters of FE providers inspected under Ofsted’s report card regime said the process affected staff wellbeing, according to the watchdog’s own research.

Meanwhile, a similar proportion said the inspectorate worked to minimise stress and anxiety.

Ofsted said the survey proved its reforms were “on the right track” as providers across early years, schools and FE “were generally positive about their inspection experience under the renewed education inspection framework”.

But union leaders criticised chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver for his “rose-tinted portrayal” of Ofsted’s new framework, claiming he was “completely out of touch”.

The survey was based on 699 responses, including 57 from further education. It comes as education secretary Lucy Powell hinted at potential further changes of Ofsted’s approach, just a year after the report card system was launched.

Mental health impact

The survey, by IFF Research, polled education providers inspected from January and whose report cards were published before the end of May.

Of the 57 FE and skills respondents, three quarters said their wellbeing – or that of staff who took part in an inspection – was negatively affected ‘at least a little’.

Almost one third (32 per cent) said mental health was impacted ‘a fair amount or a lot’.

Less than half (46 per cent) agreed the workload caused by an Ofsted inspection was manageable.

However, 77 per cent praised inspectors for taking action to minimise stress and anxiety, compared with 62 per cent of schools.

The vast majority (86 per cent) of FE providers agreed with a statement that the inspection team worked collaboratively with them to identify areas and priorities for improvement.

Small-scale poll

Researchers warned of differences in the FE findings. Some questions were not asked of all respondents as the base size of 57 providers was too low to “report robustly” in some areas.

Ofsted’s own data shows 151 FE and skills providers were inspected from January, with reports published by the end of May. There were 1,142 school inspections published during that period and over 3,000 for early years settings.

The survey response rate among FE and skills providers was 37 per cent. Most responses came from independent learning providers.

Jonathan Childs, Ofsted’s post-16 director, told ITPs in June that the first eight months of the new inspection process was not a “representative view” of the sector.

Of all education providers in the IFF survey, three quarters said the inspection process was collaborative and inspectors had taken account of their unique provision.

Simon Ashworth, deputy chief executive and director of policy of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the overall findings “broadly” reflected what members had experienced.

“Many describe a more consultative process, with greater opportunity to discuss the evidence and a clearer understanding of how their provision is being judged,” he added.

‘Out of touch’ Oliver

Oliver said the data showed “we are on the right track” with Ofsted reforms but acknowledged that workload and wellbeing “continue to be challenging”, adding “I don’t take that lightly”.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, argued the findings should be “ringing alarm bells” instead of the “positive” way in which the watchdog presented the data.

“Three-quarters of FE and skills providers said inspections have negatively affected their wellbeing, and less than half said the workload caused by their last inspection was manageable,” he said.

“These are hugely alarming numbers that reveal inspections are clearly still having a hugely damaging impact on the FE workforce and should not be explained away as ongoing challenges.”

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, added that the survey was a “rose-tinted portrayal” of Ofsted’s new framework and “could not be further from the truth”.

“Sir Martyn Oliver remains completely out of touch,” he said. “The new inspection framework is no better than the previous, and in many respects has worsened. Workload has increased. The sense of dread remains.

“Ofsted is a key driver of fear, anxiety and stress. Lucy Powell has indicated a readiness to review. We want to see a new system that is more supportive, but also fair and effective. It is what the profession is crying out for.”

Following union warnings that the new system was “even more stressful” than the old framework for school leaders, Powell last month said that she would work “to make sure we get this Ofsted framework, but also the culture and the whole regime, right”.

According to The Guardian, Powell is poised to tell Ofsted to “go back to the drawing board”, after becoming concerned the framework is causing too much stress.