Ofsted has hit back at claims that it could mark down schools for taking in too many middle-class children as part of a radical shake-up in grading.
The plans were reportedly being discussed with senior Ofsted officials and were drawn up by Professor Lee Elliot Major from Exeter University who is an expert in social mobility.
However, an Ofsted spokesperson rebuked these reports, stating; ‘This story is untrue. Ofsted does not consider admissions during school inspections and we have no plans to do so in the future. The focus of our inspections is the quality of education provided for pupils’.
Despite Ofsted’s denials though, the debate surrounding any such grading shake-up wages on, with Professor Major claiming that there is nothing to stop sought-after schools from admitting as many middle-class pupils as possible, and feels the plans will try to ‘equalise the unlevel playing field’.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Prof Major said: ‘Too often what happens is the schools we penalise are the ones serving the most challenging communities.
According to Ofsted’s new rating system, schools will have to take their ‘fair share’ of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds (stock photo)
The plans are reportedly being discussed with senior Ofsted officials and were drawn up by Professor Lee Elliot Major from Exeter University (stock photo)
‘This isn’t about dumbing down, this is very much about improving standards for all.
‘If you improve the learning for children from the most under-resourced background, you improve learning for all children.’
Pupil attendance would also be graded by Ofsted for the first time under the alleged new plans.
One-word ratings are set to be replaced by a scorecard containing ten separate grades based on ‘key areas’.
Attendance could be one of these new performance ratings, as well as how well schools instil British values and prepare children for the outside world.
Other key areas could include the content of the school’s curriculum and the quality of teaching.
Labour announced back in September it would scrap one-word Ofsted judgements with immediate effect following the tragic death of Ruth Perry.
The headteacher took her own life after an inspection downgraded her primary school in Caversham, Reading, from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’ with a coroner concluding that it had contributed to her death.
Ruth Perry, 53, was headteacher at Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, and took her own life before a negative Ofsted inspection on the school was published
Rachel Reeves confirmed she was forcing private schools to charge VAT on fees from the new year
Starting in the new year fee-paying schools will no longer be exempt from the tax, and will get no business rate relief, as the Government looks to fund 6,500 extra teachers for state schools
Ofsted previously awarded one of four headline grades to schools it inspects: ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ and ‘inadequate’.
It comes after the announcement in the autumn budget last Wednesday that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will scrap private schools’ VAT exemption.
The government’s own economic watchdog said the move will send an additional 35,000 children into state education.
Posh schools such as Eton, Winchester and Charterhouse, as well as countless smaller institutions, will lose the exemption from January.
They will also lose their business rate relief from April as Labour uses the schools to fund 6,5000 new teaching jobs in the state sector.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast the number of students at fee-paying schools would fall by 35,000, driven mainly by fewer pupils enrolling rather than current students being pulled out by struggling parents.
It said the cost of these children joining state schools was £300million. It forecast that the raid on VAT would add £1.7billion per year to Treasury coffers by the end of the Parliament.
Critics of the plan have argued that the change is coming in too fast and could force some schools to close as parents pull their children out due to higher fees.
But supporters of the change say it is a long-overdue closure of a loophole that allows wealthy schools to avoid tax.
