This paper is intended to support such discussions by exploring key tensions and trade-offs that exist in inspection policy and practice. We think setting these out is an important first step before moving into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what a future framework should look like. Too often calls are made for Ofsted to focus on X or to look beyond Y, but the broad paradigm – and the concerns sometimes expressed about inspection - remain the same because the issues outlined in this paper are not always properly understood. We think that exploring these tensions as a starting point creates the space to think truly differently and constructively about the future of inspection.
Ofsted reform is often a live policy discussion but with the prospect of a new HMCI in January 2024 and a general election in the same year, it is almost inevitable that there will be heightened debates in the next twelve months about the future role and shape of the inspectorate.
This paper is intended to support such discussions by exploring key tensions and trade-offs that exist in inspection policy and practice. We think setting these out is an important first step before moving into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what a future framework should look like. Too often calls are made for Ofsted to focus on X or to look beyond Y, but the broad paradigm – and the concerns sometimes expressed about inspection - remain the same because the issues outlined in this paper are not always properly understood. We think that exploring these tensions as a starting point creates the space to think truly differently and constructively about the future of inspection.
Accordingly, this is a discussion paper and not a list of firm proposals. We hope it offers some useful concepts to support thinking about the future of inspection policy and practice. In the coming months we will be engaging more with CST members about these concepts and the potential implications for inspection reform.
