Ofsted wants to see your broad and rich curriculum

In 2019 we can look forward to a new inspection framework. The promise made in September 2015 for a moratorium has been honoured and, in fact, exceeded. We might have seen changes in September 2017 but now have another two years to wait. During this time, we are told, the service will be consulting and researching to establish what should be left alone and what must change.

The framework might be on hold but the inspection process for good schools isn’t. An Ofsted consultation proposed that some “good” schools should receive a Section 5 inspection instead of a short inspection and this could start from October 2017. Chief inspector Amanda Spielman has also been making her views known about the future direction of the service: “Rather than just intensifying the focus on data, Ofsted inspections must explore what is behind the data, asking how results have been achieved. Inspections, then, are about looking underneath the bonnet to be sure that a good quality education – one that genuinely meets pupils’ needs – is not being compromised.”