The suitability of Ofsted inspectors has been put into doubt by providers who have been visited by those who run neighbouring businesses or have a history of operating poor-performing settings.
Nursery World is aware of several early years providers that have been inspected by freelance inspectors who have failed to declare a conflict of interest because they run a setting locally to them. One of these providers is taking legal action against Ofsted as a result.
This is despite Ofsted’s terms and conditions for contracted inspectors stating that they must disclose any conflicts of interest ‘immediately’.
An experienced childminder in the Cambridgeshire area told Nursery World how she was inspected by a fellow childminder in the village next to her last year and who downgraded her setting from Outstanding to Good.
The inspector has since closed her business after the childminder made a complaint to Ofsted.
She explained, ‘After being informed of my inspection, I spent the evening researching the inspector, her previous experience, etc., and discovered she was a childminder in the next village. In our area there is a shortage of childcare spaces and it is common for parents to use settings in the surrounding villages, particularly when en route to their workplace.
‘The inspector regularly advertised her business on the local Facebook discussion pages. I also discovered she had a very different ethos to my own. It was evident she favoured adult-led activities, whereas we advocate for child-led play and process over product when it comes to art work.
‘I also found out that the inspector had a history of downgrading Outstanding settings in the area.’
The childminder said that the inspector, who she claims didn’t even go inside her home or check any paperwork, was ‘patronising’ and ‘interrogated’ one of her assistants on safeguarding. Due to the stress and anxiety of the inspection, the assistant handed in her notice a week later.
She went on to say, ‘I disputed the reasons with the inspector why she felt our setting was Good and not Outstanding, but she couldn’t give any valid reasons. It was clear she just didn’t want us to have a better grade than she did.
‘What was more concerning was the reasons she gave on our report for not reaching Outstanding, which were the same as what she had said in reports for other settings she had inspected.’
The childminder complained to Ofsted about the inspection. Two days later she says the inspector had de-registered as a childminder, removed her business from Facebook and changed her name on social media so she ‘couldn’t be traced’.
She claims she tried to take her complaint further with Ofsted, but failed to get anywhere.
One nursery owner in the South West said she was inspected by a regional manager of a local chain of nurseries to her. She claims the inspector stole some of her ideas for her own business.
While Ofsted did agree it was a conflict of interest after the nursery owner raised the issue with the inspectorate, she says by then it was ‘too late and the damage was done’. She added,‘I have lost all faith in the competency of inspectors now.’
Ofsted says it expects all its inspectors to declare any potential conflicts of interest, for example, if they work in the ‘direct vicinity of a provider they have been asked to inspect’.
Inspectors with ‘inadequate’ settings
Other providers have spoken out after being inspected by contracted inspectors running, or with a history of running, settings rated less than Good by the inspectorate.
The owner of a small chain of nurseries in the East Midlands told Nursery World how they were inspected last summer by an inspector who had a history of running settings that had been graded as ‘inadequate’, or had complaint action against them. She said they looked up the inspector after she told them at the beginning of the inspection that she ran a setting.
According to the owner, the inspector had run four nurseries over the years. The first nursery she ran was rated ‘inadequate’, then received a Good before closing. The second setting was rated ‘inadequate’ twice before closing. The third nursery was rated Good, but had a complaint action against it before shutting. The nursery the inspector ran at the time of the inspection was also rated Good, but had a complaint action against it.
She said, ‘I feel let down by Ofsted as we are being inspected by people who do not have the successful background to do so.
‘This leaves question marks over Ofsted’s quality assurance when it comes to recruitment.’
According to Ofsted, it only ‘onboards’ contracted inspectors if their own setting/s are rated Good or Outstanding at the time they start working for it. They may take on less than Good provision while working as an inspector with the aim of improving it, however.
If an inspector’s own setting is inspected and found to be less than Good while they are working as an inspector then they must inform Ofsted so it can access their ‘continued suitability to inspect’.
Since May 2017, Ofsted has managed all its early years inspectors. Previous to this, companies Tribal and Prospects were contracted to manage freelance inspectors.
The reason behind the move, according to Ofsted, was to give the inspectorate ‘full control over the selection, training and management of inspectors, along with complete oversight of the quality of inspection’.
An Ofsted spokesperson said, ‘We have not been provided with any evidence to support these anonymous claims, so are unable to investigate them further. However, we strongly encourage providers to tell us directly if they have concerns about the suitability of inspectors. We take all concerns received very seriously.
‘All our contracted early years inspectors go through a rigorous recruitment and onboarding process. As part of this, we must be satisfied that theyare not connected with any inspection judgements or circumstances that undermine their credibility as an effective leader and inspector.’
‘Not fit for purpose’
Michael Pettavel, retired nursery school head teacher and Children’s Centre leader, said, ‘I take Ofsted’s point that anonymous complaints are difficult to manage, and my advice would always be to complain and state this at the time of inspection. Whenever I have felt the conduct of an inspector falls below the standard set in our school, I raise it, loudly.
‘I think that if this is happening, either the local inspector or one that has led “inadequate” settings, then it is appalling. The judgement of Leadership and Management could in no way be accurately given by someone who has not met the threshold themselves. They should quite simply not be inspecting if this is the case. I would also be concerned if the commissioning of inspections did not take into account proximity and the inevitable conflict of interest this would cause; again this should simply not be allowed to happen.
‘All in all, sadly it demonstrates that the current system isn’t really fit for purpose. It’s high stakes and has a very limited impact on standards of learning and teaching, in my opinion. Safeguarding is a different matter – this should be rigorous, but again the way in which it is conducted (every three or four years) doesn’t really meet the need.’
