England’s biggest school leaders’ union, The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has called for a halt to graded Ofsted inspections, saying they “pose a real and present danger to the well-being and mental health of school leaders and teachers, and possibly even a risk to life.”

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has called for a halt to graded Ofsted inspections

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has called for a halt to graded Ofsted inspections

It is true that Ofsted inspections are unnecessarily stressful, and there is lots to criticise. The current process has undoubtedly become more punitive than supportive; the endless admin and data-collecting demoralises teachers, who are already in worryingly short supply and are leaving in droves; and the recent reforms have merely tinkered with the semantics rather than created meaningful change.

And yet, just because we don’t want Ofsted, doesn’t mean we do not need it. As broken, over-bloated and bureaucratic as inspections may be, they play an important role: they provide information to prospective parents, incentives for schools to improve standards, and create accountability – which should not automatically be seen as a ‘dirty’ word. 

The problem with NAHT’s rhetoric, and playing on public fears that it is only a matter of time before we have another tragic death like Ruth Perry’s, is that........

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