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Tone-deaf: Ofsted’s plan to accelerate inspections slammed by school leaders

"Unhelpful. Strange. Stuck in the past. Tone-deaf.” The profession has reacted with bewildered frustration this week after the announcement of plans to inspect every school at least once by 2025.

Ofsted confirmed in a press statement on Tuesday (November 16) that beginning with last term’s inspections, “all schools and further education providers will be inspected at least once by summer 2025”.

It added: “All college inspections from September 2022 up to September 2025 will be full, graded inspections; these are expected to be enhanced to take account of local skills needs.”

It comes after the government asked Ofsted to give a quicker assessment of how well education is recovering from the pandemic. Ofsted has been given £23.9m to help fund this work.

The inspection arrangements will be confirmed “in due course”, Ofsted said, with additional details updated in the schools and further education and skills inspection handbooks.

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