Executive summary
Ofsted’s school inspection system is doing more harm than good for the education profession. Ofsted operates a uniquely high-stakes inspection framework that creates stress among school leaders, with these pressures then trickling down to staff and students. Too often, inspection undermines rather than supports schools.
Ofsted announced a new framework for school inspection in September 2025.
One year on from the announcement of the new inspection framework, we wanted to investigate the resultant impact. We have assessed if Ofsted has met its commitments to reform under the new inspection framework, and if the harms of school inspection have persisted or have been resolved:
We conducted a large-scale survey of 1,970 NEU members on their experience or anticipation of inspection under the new framework.
1,508 survey respondents had experienced inspection under the new framework, including 196 head teachers and senior leaders. Of the remainder, 462 respondents were still ‘in the window’, awaiting inspection under the new framework.
We also analysed the grades of 1,320 published inspection reports under the old and new inspection frameworks.
We interviewed a small sample of senior and middle leaders (predominantly head teachers) on their experience of inspection.
Key findings on experiences of inspection under the new framework
Workload, wellbeing and retention
Ofsted inspection continues to drive untenably high workload:
Of those who had already been inspected, 85 per cent reported that their workload had increased in preparation for inspection, including 50 per cent who stated that their workload had increased significantly.
For those still waiting to be inspected, 92 per cent had seen an increase in workload in preparation for inspection, including 65 per cent who reported a significant increase.
Leaders and primary school respondents reported a heavier workload burden.
Ofsted inspection harms physical and mental wellbeing:
- 87 per cent of survey respondents who had undergone inspection reported negative impacts from exhaustion, including 51% reporting a significant negative impact.
- 86 per cent reported a negative impact on their stress levels.
- 77 per cent reported a negative impact on their mental health.
- 59 per cent reported a negative impact on their physical health.
Primary school respondents reported worse impacts across all dimensions.
Respondents from more deprived schools reported a greater negative impact on their exhaustion levels and overall mental health.
Ofsted inspection causes teacher and school leader attrition:
One in four – 26 per cent of respondents – said their recent experience of inspection made them want to leave the education profession.
Primary teachers are more likely to want to leave the profession following inspection than secondary teachers (33 per cent compared with 22 per cent).
More than one third (36 per cent) of school leaders indicated that inspection made them want to leave the profession, compared to 25 per cent of classroom teachers.
Evaluation areas and the inspection process
More than two thirds (68 per cent) of respondents do not agree that the introduction of six new evaluation areas has prompted a richer and more detailed evaluation of their school. Respondents took issue with combining attendance and behaviour into one evaluation area under the new framework.
Ofsted’s new secure-fit grading process drives intensive workload pressures (and associated high stress) to prepare for inspection. 54 per cent of respondents disagreed that the secure-fit approach was a fairer and more appropriate method of grading compared with “best fit”, while 27 per cent weren’t sure.
School staff continue to dislike how inspection feels and contest whether the process is collaborative. Despite some welcome findings on inspector conduct (with 67 per cent of respondents agreeing that the inspection team was professional and respectful), there is still too much variability, with persistent examples of unprofessional behaviour from inspectors.
After inspection
There is no clear consensus about the fairness or accuracy of final grades, with 45 per cent of primary school respondents feeling their grades were too harsh (compared with 33 per cent of secondary school respondents).
Many school leaders felt that Ofsted’s feedback on areas needing improvement was not meaningful or clear.
There continue to be problems with how Ofsted’s complaints system is accessed and concerns about the impartiality and fairness of the process.
Have things improved?
Our survey findings highlight that the education profession does not feel that the new inspection framework is an improvement, and that a significant number of school staff continue to dread and fear inspection:
- 65 per cent of respondents said the new inspection framework felt the same as before or was worse.
- 49 per cent were negative about their overall experience of inspection, while 23 per cent were positive and 29 per cent were neutral about their experience.
Those who were awaiting inspection bore similarly negative views on the new inspection framework. For these respondents, a sense of dread toward upcoming inspection remained significant and pervasive.
Ofsted continues to exhibit bias in its grading approach:
Under the new framework, secondary schools are more likely to receive an Exceptional grade than primary schools.
The relationship between deprivation and poor grades persists under the new framework. It is predominantly observed in the attendance and behaviour category and the achievement category, with schools in deprived areas (those with higher income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) scores) being more likely to receive harsher grades.
Some respondents reported positive experiences of inspection and of inspectors’ conduct. However, too many shared deeply troubling experiences of inspector behaviour and the majority did not report a positive experience. Deep impacts on workload and wellbeing, driven by the external pressure of the inspection system, are compounded by issues with the inspection process itself: how context is taken into account, how collaborative the process feels and the ability of school staff to air complaints both formally and informally.
These impacts are inevitably felt by children and young people. Quality of teaching is the most significant in-school determiner of a student’s success in education (OECD, 2026), but teachers’ professional practice is undermined when the pressures of inspection detract from their workload capacity and directly undermine their wellbeing. To build an education system in which every child is achieving and thriving, reform of the school inspection system is an urgent priority.
Recommendations
The NEU wants to see Ofsted abolished and replaced by a new inspection system that is supportive, effective and fair. This government’s move towards reshaping school accountability offers the opportunity to recreate a school inspection system that genuinely supports school improvement and collaboration to share good practice.
We present a series of short- and long-term recommendations to Ofsted, the Department for Education (DfE) and political decision makers.
Short-term recommendations are aimed at bringing some relief to school staff, enabling the government to improve leaders’ and teachers’ working conditions and retain more teachers and leaders. However, these short-term steps need to be taken alongside plans for other improvements in the long term.
Further detail and rationale for these recommendations are included in the full report.
Recommendations for immediate relief
1 Ofsted should stop using national average comparisons to primarily determine final grades for achievement and for attendance and behaviour. References to national average comparisons under these evaluation areas in the school inspection toolkit should be removed.
2 Ofsted should return to the best-fit grading methodology.
3 The DfE should engage with the profession and education unions around the unsustainable workload reported and devise a strategy to improve the quality of working lives, particularly given the wider context of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms and the implementation of curriculum change.
4 The DfE should deliver on their commitment to identify opportunities to support the wellbeing of head teachers in the context of inspection outcomes, particularly those facing difficult inspection outcomes.
5 Ofsted should commission an immediate external review of the training of its inspectors, focused on consistency, training on wellbeing and mental health, and its approach to understanding school context and phase.
6 Ofsted should establish a new, fully independent and transparent body to assess and judge complaints regarding schools’ Ofsted inspections.
Long-term recommendations
1 Ofsted should introduce a narrative-based school inspection report to replace the five-point grading scale.
2 The government should prioritise a move towards inspection at school group and multi-academy trust (MAT) level.
