School nurseries, reception classes and sixth forms to be given own Ofsted ratings

The changes, due to be introduced in September, are part of a bid to ensure that inspectors focus as much on these stages of education as they do on the quality of schooling for five to 16-year-olds, the inspectorate said.

Under the current system, inspectors look at nurseries, reception classes and sixth forms during school visits, and may comment on them during their reports, but there are no overall separate judgments.

The new plans, published for consultation today, would see each of these areas given their own rating, within a school’s final inspection report.

Michael Cladingbowl, Ofsted’s national director for schools, said: “We know that the early years of education set children up for life – so it is really important that schools get this right. I want our inspection reports to be even clearer about how well children are doing in reception and nursery classes. It’s also important that parents and young people have a clear understanding of how well the school’s sixth form is doing so they can make informed choices about where to continue their studies when they reach 16.

“We are keen to hear the views of parents and learners as well as providers about our proposals to bring in these separate judgments.”

Ofsted also indicated it is planning a shake-up of school inspections, saying that evidence from the 7,000 inspections it carries out each year suggests that not all schools need to be inspected in the same way.

“We are also giving a lot of thought to how school inspection might develop over the longer term and will bring forward proposals for consultation in due course,” Mr Cladingbowl said.

Union bosses raised concerns about the plans for separate judgments. Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “Ofsted needs to stop changing the format of its inspections every time it thinks of something new to do. We are not particularly opposed to separate judgements for early years and sixth forms, but ask why Ofsted is not introducing this at the same time as all the other recent and planned changes.”