One or two-word Ofsted inspection grades for schools in England are being scrapped, the government has announced.

So, what will the new system be and why is it being changed?

FactCheck takes a look.

What changes are being made to Ofsted inspection grades?

The overall grade categories of ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires Improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’ will no longer be issued to schools with immediate effect.

The headline grades – also known as single word judgements – have been used to summarise the overall performance of schools.

But these are now being scrapped. So from today until September 2025, schools that are inspected will instead receive a rating in the four existing subcategories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

As Ofsted inspection reports already contain these subcategories, parents will still be able to compare schools by looking at how they perform in each of these areas. But they won’t have a single word judgement covering the school as a whole to consider.

Schools that already have an existing grade in place will keep this until they are next inspected.

From September 2025, “School Report Cards” will be introduced, which the Department for Education says “will provide parents with a full and comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing”.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson, said: “Single headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing – that’s what our report cards will provide.”

How have parent groups and teachers reacted?

The one-word overall inspections gradings have been the subject of controversy for a while, with calls from some teachers, school leaders and unions for them to be dropped.

The system also faced criticism after a coroner’s inquest found that the death of head teacher Ruth Perry was “contributed to by an Ofsted inspection carried out in November 2022”. The coroner highlighted the “single word judgement of ‘Inadequate’” as an area of concern.

Responding to the new policy, Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind, was quoted in a government press release: “We welcome the decision by the Secretary of State to prioritise Ofsted reform. The move to end single-word judgements as soon as practical, whilst giving due care and attention to constructing a new and sustainable accountability framework during the year ahead, is the right balance for both schools and parents.

And Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, added in the government’s press release: “The scrapping of overarching grades is a welcome interim measure. We have been clear that simplistic one-word judgements are harmful, and we are pleased the government has taken swift action to remove them.”

But Amanda Spielman, former chief inspector of Ofsted, told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “When you survey parents, generally, they like the simplicity and clarity [of the single word rating]. Various surveys have showed stronger support from parents for models with overall effectiveness judgements.”

However, she added that “nevertheless, they had become – because of the weight of consequences that government had hung on them – they had become more of a problem than a help”.

Katharine Birbalsingh, a London headteacher who was head of the Social Mobility Commission during Boris Johnson’s premiership, said of the government’s proposed replacement for single word ratings: “This ‘report card’ will NOT give more clarity to parents. That’s bluster from the politicians.”

(Image credit: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)