Commenting on the decision of the Secretary of State to appoint Christine Gilbert as Chair of Ofsted, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"It is a constructive decision by the Secretary of State to appoint Christine Gilbert as the new Chair of Ofsted.
"Her independent learning review highlighted that meaningful and genuine change to how Ofsted operates is required to address the acute stress that school inspection causes.
"It is a significant step that Christine Gilbert has been appointed Chair, given the damning report that she produced about Ofsted’s defensiveness and intransigence.
"If Ofsted produces its final plan in September but ploughs ahead to start inspections under the new system from November, this will drive a sense of panic.
"Martyn Oliver needs to slow down and be transparent about what the consultation has shown.
"Imposing a new model on the profession and failing to offer adequate time to digest what is now required, is simply unfair. With teacher and leader retention still at such challenging levels, this is reckless.
"The NEU is calling for a delay to school inspection reforms until September 2026 and proper consultation to get change right."