‘Toxic’ Ofsted left teachers and inspectors ‘distressed and burnt out’, say insiders

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1. Teachers and inspectors have been left feeling “distressed and burnt out” by a “toxic” Ofsted inspections regime that needs a complete overhaul, insiders have claimed.

   Current and former inspectors, with knowledge of the system over the last few decades, told **i** that [Ofsted’s ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/ofsted?ico=in-line_link)culture has become too “aggressive” and rigid to judge schools fairly.

   The sources, many of whom have agreed to be named, said the intense pressure inspectors were under – sometimes working 14-hour days – meant some were “passing their stress on” to teaching staff during fraught two-day checks.

   One former [Ofsted](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/we-are-falling-into-a-familiar-trap-with-ofsted-3267597?ico=in-line_link) employee, who now offers support to schools, said upset headteachers told her that they were “treated appallingly” during the process, and some even felt bullied.

   However, the insiders said most inspectors have good intentions as regards to improving school standards, and there are hopes the new Ofsted chief is starting to bring to an end the “never-wrong culture”.

   [It follows the Labour Government’s decision to ditch Ofsted’s one-word ratings for schools](https://inews.co.uk/news/education/no-more-outstanding-schools-parents-face-confusion-under-labour-ofsted-plan-3117347?ico=in-line_link) – outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate – which are hated by the teaching profession.

   Ministers have been under pressure to deliver change after an inquest ruled that the pressure of an Ofsted inspection “contributed” to the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry last year.

   The current and former Ofsted employees that **i** spoke to welcomed the move on ratings – but said far more fundamental reforms are needed to end a “confrontational” relationship with schools.

   One inspector, who did not wish to be named, said the organisation’s post-Covid target to inspect all schools in England by 2025 had “really ramped up the pressure” on staff.

   They said full-time HMIs (His Majesty’s Inspectors) were struggling with “burnout”, having gone from fortnightly inspections to “week after week” of school visits in recent years.

   “If inspectors are stressed, they pass on their stress to a school,” they said. “They are running around, manically, trying to cover too much in the curriculum. There’s too much in the framework, and not enough time.”

   During 2023-24, Ofsted drove up the total number of inspections at state and independent schools to 7,116. This marks a 15 per cent increase on the 6,191 carried out the previous year.

2. As a school governor I have watched a passionate and gifted headteacher descend into a nervous breakdown in front of my eyes in a post inspection meeting.

   The guidance we had been given by an HMI in multiple visits the year prior to the inspection bore no resemblance to the actual inspection: we were like lambs to the slaughter. The fact that the children were learning, making good progress, happy and safe was of almost no interest to the inspector, who displayed absolutely no compassion as a life collapsed in front of him. It was one of the most sickening things I’ve ever witnessed.

3. My niece went to Caversham primary, it was a shit show. Kid was bullied and punched as a regular occurrence, teachers didn’t care. Clothes were stolen, teachers and head didn’t care. The school was an absolute shit show.

   She was certainly going to get a shitty offstead report. Because the school had gone to shit.

   Like it or not, there has to be monitors, there has to be oversight. This was /is a failed school. Rather than face the music, she took her life.

   What kind of person does that to all the school children? Someone who is mentally unstable, shouldn’t be there.

   While I sympathise for her family and the people she hurt, people like her should not be running schools. Offstead may need better methods, but if the school was good, no additional effort would be required. Random inspections with no notice would be best.