The monosyllabic Ofsted ratings for state schools will be abolished with immediate effect. The step was celebrated as a “milestone for children”.
Previously, the education watchdog gave inspected schools one of four ratings – “outstanding”, “good”, “requires improvement” or “inadequate”.
The Department for Education (DfE) announced that from this academic year, four grades will be awarded in the existing subcategories of quality of teaching, behaviour and attitude, personal development and leadership and management.
School report cards will be introduced from September 2025 and will provide parents with a “comprehensive assessment of a school’s performance” and ensure inspections are more effective in driving improvement, it said.
The changes come as a result of collaboration between the education department and the family of headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life after Caversham Primary School in Reading was downgraded from ‘outstanding’ to ‘poor’ in an Ofsted report over safety concerns.
A coronial inquest last year found that the inspection process contributed to her death.
The DfE said “reductionist” individual grades “do not provide a fair and accurate assessment of a school’s overall performance” and that the changes would help “break down barriers to opportunity”.
This is a key issue for the new Labour government, which has pledged to raise standards in state education and raise extra funds by levying tuition fees for private schools.
As part of today’s announcement, the government said it would prioritise improvement plans for schools identified as underperforming, rather than relying on changes in management.
From the start of 2025, local improvement teams will be put in place to work with underperforming schools and address their weaknesses.
In the most serious cases where schools are deemed inadequate, the government will continue to intervene.
This could include ordering state schools to become academies and, according to the DfE, in some cases could mean a transfer to new management.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “The need to reform Ofsted to ensure high standards for all children in every school is overwhelmingly clear.”
“The abolition of overall grades is a generation-long reform and a milestone for children, parents and teachers.”
She added that individual headline grades meant “less information for parents and a bigger gamble for schools”.
“Parents deserve a clearer and more comprehensive picture of how their schools are performing and that’s what our report cards provide.”
“This government will make inspections a more powerful and transparent tool to drive school improvement. We committed to change and we are now delivering.”
Reforms “may go further”
The announcement came as pupils return to classrooms this week.
The scrapping of separate key grades applies to state schools inspected this year. Other institutions such as private schools and universities are expected to follow.
The plans were welcomed by teaching unions, who have been calling for reform for years.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, said: “We have been clear that simple one-liner judgements are harmful and we are pleased that the government has acted swiftly to remove them.”
But Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said the new government had “made the right decision” but could go further and “end the misconception that becoming an academy is the only way to bring about the improvements schools need.”
“Today’s announcement is an important step in the right direction, but it does not change the fact that without fundamental reforms to repair the foundations of our broken accountability system, teachers and school leaders will continue to work in a flawed system,” he said.