Three-quarters of leaders say the new system is worse: Ofsted changes are coming within months
What happened
On 24 September 2026, Schools Week reported that education secretary Lucy Powell is preparing changes to Ofsted inspections within the next few months. The report cited a senior government source. Powell had already hinted at her intentions in an LBC radio interview earlier in September, when she spoke about wanting a more supportive approach to school accountability. The pressure behind this has been building for a while. Ofsted's old system gave schools a single word - outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate. That was scrapped after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, whose family said an inspection had contributed to her taking her own life. In its place came a report card system, with a five-point grading scale across several areas rather than one overall word. The replacement has not gone down well. A recent survey found around three-quarters of school leaders think the new system is worse than the one it replaced. Unions have reported serious effects on leaders' health, with one union leader quoted as saying: "We need urgent relief." Separately, a pilot is under way testing a different approach. Nearly 1,000 school leaders have been put forward as potential peer inspectors, across more than 180 trusts and school groups. That suggests ministers are at least looking at models where schools are inspected partly by people who currently run schools.
Why this matters
If you are a parent, Ofsted reports are probably how you chose your child's school, or at least part of how you did. So it matters whether those reports are giving you useful information, and it matters what producing them does to the people running the school. The argument for inspection is straightforward. Parents deserve independent information about how a school is doing, and children deserve a system that notices when a school is failing them. Almost nobody argues for abolishing inspection entirely. The argument about how to do it is harder. A single word was criticised for compressing a complex organisation into a label that could ruin a career and move house prices. The replacement was meant to give a fuller picture. If three-quarters of leaders think it is worse, something in that redesign has not worked as intended. There is also a recruitment problem sitting underneath all of this. Schools have struggled to find people willing to take on headship. If the job is widely seen as carrying an unmanageable amount of pressure, fewer good people will step forward - and that affects children more slowly but more deeply than any inspection judgement. This is a live policy question being worked out now, which is exactly when it is worth paying attention.
What the evidence actually says
Let us separate what is confirmed from what is reported. Confirmed: the single-word judgements were scrapped and replaced with a report card and a five-point scale across areas. That happened, and schools are being inspected under it now. Confirmed: a pilot involving peer inspectors is running, with close to 1,000 school leaders put forward across more than 180 trusts and school groups. Reported, not announced: that Powell plans changes within the next few months. This comes from a senior government source via Schools Week. It is not a government announcement, and no detail of what will change has been published. So nobody yet knows what the changes will be. They could be adjustments to how grades are worded, to inspection notice periods, to how findings are published, or to the support offered to schools afterwards. Until something is announced, that is speculation. On the survey finding - around three-quarters of leaders saying the new system is worse - it is worth noting that surveys of school leaders are usually run by unions or sector bodies and answered by those who choose to respond. That tends to over-represent people with strong feelings. The finding is still meaningful, because a system that its own users overwhelmingly dislike has a problem. But it is a measure of opinion, not of whether inspections are accurate. What can be said fairly is that there is sustained, broad-based dissatisfaction with the current arrangements, and that ministers appear to be responding to it.
Practical advice
For parents, a few things are worth knowing. Read the whole report card, not just the top line. The point of moving away from a single word was to give more detail. That detail is genuinely useful - a school can be strong in some areas and weaker in others, and which areas matter most depends on your child. Check the date. An inspection is a snapshot. A report from three years ago may describe a school with a different head, different staff and a different intake. Visit. Nothing on paper tells you what a school feels like at half past eight on a Tuesday morning. Most schools run open events in the autumn term. If you have a concern about your child's school, raise it with the school first. Ofsted is not a complaints service, and most issues are resolved faster by talking to the class teacher or head of year. For school staff reading this: if inspection pressure is affecting your health, that is worth acting on rather than absorbing. Education Support runs a free, confidential helpline for everyone working in education, available around the clock on 08000 562 561. Your union will also have support available, and your GP is not an overreaction if things have got heavy. And if you are a governor or trustee, the question worth asking at your next meeting is a simple one: what are we doing about the wellbeing of our senior leaders, specifically?
What to know
Education secretary Lucy Powell is reported to be planning changes to Ofsted inspections within the next few months, according to Schools Week on 24 September 2026, citing a senior government source. The context is sustained unhappiness with the report card system that replaced single-word judgements. A recent survey found around three-quarters of school leaders consider the new system worse than the old one, and unions have raised concerns about the effect on leaders' health. A pilot using peer inspectors is already running, involving nearly 1,000 school leaders across more than 180 trusts and school groups. No changes have been announced and no detail is public yet. This is a signal of intent, reported rather than confirmed. For parents, the practical advice is unchanged: read the full report, check how old it is, and go and visit. For staff under pressure, Education Support's free helpline is 08000 562 561. Sources: Schools Week, 'Lucy Powell planning changes to Ofsted within next few months', 24 September 2026, https://schoolsweek.co.uk/; LBC, 'Education Secretary set to change Ofsted guidance amid mounting pressure on headteachers', September 2026, https://www.lbc.co.uk/; Tes, 'Lucy Powell appointed education secretary', 2026, https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/lucy-powell-appointed-education-secretary This article is for general information about education policy. If you are struggling with your mental health, please speak to your GP, or contact Samaritans free on 116 123 at any time. It does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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