While Ofsted has long been criticised and mistrusted, the extent to which it has recently been vilified is nothing short of shocking.
Following the suicide of head teacher Ruth Perry, after her school was downgraded from Outstanding to Inadequate, the inspectorate has been described in the media as imposing a ‘reign of terror’, its inspectors have become ‘bullies’ and its systems ‘intensely cruel’.
When we posted our own Ofsted survey (analysis, page 6) we swiftly received around 3,000 responses, and while there is plenty in the feedback to suggest that Ofsted's current style of inspection is stressful, it also provides a more balanced picture than one might have expected.
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