Ofsted must routinely inspect outstanding schools too

In what Ofsted has hailed as some of the most radical changes to school inspection in England in its history, the schools regulator has published the results of a consultation into changes due to be introduced from September 2015. It is a pity that it has given no ground on its original proposals, but its current stance does at least represent a welcome cultural shift compared with previous policy – though not as great as some of us would wish. Most disappointing is that Ofsted has decided not to routinely inspect those schools it judges to be outstanding. Outstanding schools stand to benefit from dialogue with skilled inspectors who can disseminate information and insights into “good” practice. They should be inspected not in order to prescribe authoritatively what improvement should look like, but so as to inform even these outstanding schools about other possibilities. Inspectors need to routinely visit outstanding schools so they have the full range of experience on the basis of which to calibrate their judgements of all the schools they inspect. Ofsted’s response to questions raised in its consultation about this is short-sighted, concluding: "Any change of approach would require legislative change. As a result, we will continue not inspecting outstanding schools routinely, although we retain the powers to inspect if performance drops or other concerns are raised.