On Monday 3rd February 2025, Ofsted gave everyone a sneak peek at what their new proposed report card will look like when it launches in the autumn term.
On the back of Ofsted’s ‘Big Listen’ survey, the report card structure was intended to make school inspections clearer for parents, less stressful for teaching staff and more constructive in their suggestions.
One of the changes proposed by Ofsted is replacing the one word ratings (from “Outstanding” to “Inadequate”) with five possible grades for each key area.
The new grades will be “causing concern”, “attention needed”, “secure”, “strong” and “exemplary”.
Schools will be rated in key areas titled ‘Quality of education’, ‘Behaviour and attendance’, ‘Personal development’ and ‘Leadership and management’.
A poll commissioned by Schools Week of more than 800 parents found 65% preferred the new report card.
82% of parents said the new report card was either “somewhat” (45%) or “very” (37%) easy to understand.
71% also said they felt the new grading system to be fairer on teachers.
More than nine in 10 school leaders (92%) have rejected Ofsted’s plans to introduce the new report card system.
The snap poll by the NAHT (National Association of Head Teachers), launched the day after Ofsted showed a sneak peek of the new report card, showed the majority of teaching staff around the country are opposed to the new plans, with many feeling the inspection changes don’t go far enough.
More than 3,000 responses raised concerns about the Ofsted report card structure in under 48 hours, showing there’s a lack of confidence about the new system amongst teachers.
