EDUCATION unions reiterated their calls for a root and branch reform of the way schools are inspected yesterday after Ofsted downgraded hundreds of institutions. 

The National Education Union (NEU) warned that the supposedly independent inspectorate’s findings are “frequently unreliable and invalid” after it announced that a whopping 80 per cent of “outstanding” schools revisited last year were bumped down.

Most of the 308 primaries and secondaries reclassified were changed to “good,” but 17 per cent were told they “needed improvement” and 4 per cent were “inadequate.”

Some had not been inspected for 15 years and many would have experienced “significant change” such as new head teachers, Ofsted claimed.

Between 2012 and 2020, schools given the top rating were revisited only if specific concerns were raised.

The non-ministerial government department said it prioritised institutions that had gone the longest without inspection, with the average gap being 13 years.

But the NEU, which has repeatedly called for the replacement of Ofsted, argued the report shows that the inspectorate “makes no material positive difference to schools.” 

Joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said: “Schools must be accountable, but Ofsted is thoroughly discredited in the eyes of school leaders, staff and parents.

“We need to see a root and branch review of the way schools are inspected. At the moment, Ofsted is driving good teachers away and making education worse.

“It is high time the government got its head out of the sand and realised that punitive and ill-informed inspection is an obstacle to educational improvement.”

Mr Courtney demanded an approach to inspection which is “supportive, effective and fair.”

The Department for Education claimed most primaries and secondaries remain “good” or “outstanding.”