Former Ofsted boss says 90% of schools being ranked as good or outstanding is ‘nonsense’ with the ratings giving ‘false comfort to parents’

• Sir Michael Wilshaw poured cold water on watchdog’s rating claims

The former boss of Ofsted yesterday said it was ‘nonsense’ that nine in ten schools were rated good or outstanding.

Sir Michael Wilshaw poured cold water on the watchdog’s claim that the vast majority were upholding the highest standards.

Department for Education figures show that 88 per cent of state schools were judged to be good or outstanding at their latest inspection. 

But the former chief inspector said the figures were ‘complete nonsense’ and one-word judgements were giving ‘false comfort to parents’.

He told MPs on the Commons education committee: ‘Ofsted says that nearly 90 per cent of schools are good – that’s nonsense, complete nonsense.

Sir Michael Wilshaw (pictured) poured cold water on the watchdog’s claim that the vast majority were upholding the highest standards

This comes amid mounting calls for the one-word judgements to be scrapped following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry (pictured)

‘Having seen some of the schools judged good over the last few years, I would not say they were good. When I’ve been into some of these schools and then looked at the report I’ve felt like going to Specsavers and getting another pair of glasses because they were not good. It is giving false comfort to parents.’

Since 2019, the proportion of schools judged outstanding has fallen from 20 per cent to 17 per cent, whereas the percentage judged good has increased from 66 per cent to 72 per cent.

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This comes amid mounting calls for the one-word judgements to be scrapped following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. 

She took her life while waiting for a report that would label Caversham Primary School in Reading ‘inadequate’ – the lowest possible rating. The findings were described as ‘unfair’ and ‘deeply harmful’ by her heartbroken family.

Her death sparked calls to scrap Ofsted, which has been accused of causing ‘widespread anxiety, stress and ill health’.

Sir Michael, who led Ofsted from 2012 to 2016, said ‘good’ ratings allowed headteachers to ‘relax’ and not address the weaknesses at their schools.

He said he had been around ‘lots of schools’ since retiring from Ofsted and feared that inspectors were not looking as hard as they should at the quality of teaching.

He added: ‘Yes they are focusing on the curriculum and the schemes of work and so on but they are not spending as much time in lessons as they should.’

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘One-word inspection grades succinctly summarise independent evaluations on the quality of education, safeguarding, and leadership which helps to give parents confidence in choosing the right school for their child.’

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