‘I thought about breaking my own arm’: Why teachers want to see changes to the Ofsted system

While they may not seem like much to those outside the profession, Ofsted inspections can be a source of enormous stress for teachers and other school staff. Lauren Crosby Medlicott gets the inside story

(PA Archive)

After the tragic death of Ruth Perry, the head of a primary school in Reading who took her own life while waiting for the results of the Ofsted report that downgraded her school to “inadequate”, teachers have been sharing their stories about the impact of the inspections on teachers, schools and children.

Ofsted, or the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, is the government organisation that carries out inspections to judge the quality and performance of schools, and grade them.

Schools are notified at midday on the day before the inspection is to be carried out. Once it’s over, the school will be given one of four ratings: outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate.

While school inspections are necessary to hold them responsible as carers and educators of children, many argue that they aren’t functioning the way they were intended.

“The Ofsted inspection system is punitive and reductive, which doesn’t work in a sector like education,” Sinéad McBrearty, of Education Support, a charity focused on the wellbeing of teachers and education staff, tells me. “This approach has a high emotional cost for schools and the individuals working in them. Judgements – good or bad – go to the core of how professionals see themselves and we can’t deny that they are emotionally loaded.”

‘Driving so many out of the profession’

“My school is expecting Ofsted any day at the moment,” Imogen says. “It has gone from a mostly happy staff to a pressurised nightmare.”

Imogen only started teaching full time in September after working in another profession for years. “My mum was a primary school teacher and told me never to become a teacher,” she says.

Yet after working briefly in a school setting, Imogen decided to start training to teach. “I realised I really enjoyed it,” she remembers. “I liked working with kids and found it really rewarding.”

For the first term of her employment, Imogen says that everyone in the school felt lucky to work there because of the trust given to the teachers to do their jobs well.

Kids don’t fit in boxes – it’s galling as a teacher to be made to treat them as though they do

“We’re now in the window that Ofsted could call us any day,” she says. “Over the last six weeks, it has just got ridiculous. Every staff meeting, we are being given another thing to fulfil the requirements of the inspections. We’ve got policies coming out of everywhere. It’s just constant Ofsted readiness.”

Even though Imogen understands that schools need to be held accountable, she doesn’t feel the way Ofsted inspections are carried out benefits the children in any way.

“None of the things in those meetings [Ofsted readiness meetings] will have a direct effect on the children’s education,” she says. “It’s the amount of additional box ticking there seems to be – it’s so frustrating. And kids don’t even fit in boxes – it’s galling as a teacher to be made to treat them as though they do. The children are happy and they’re succeeding. We’re providing support to the kids who need it. It’s quite insulting that you train for as long as we do, and are then treated with so little trust.”

“We’re in this perpetual state of stress and anxiety,” she said. “It’s been terrible for years. I hope Ofsted perk their ears up and listen because it is driving so many people out of the profession.”

In an annual survey of more than 3,082 education staff in 2022 carried out by Education Support it was found that 78 per cent of all staff experienced mental health symptoms due to their work. The same survey found that 59 per cent have considered leaving the sector in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental health and wellbeing, with 55 per cent actively look to change or leave their current jobs.

“The sources of pressure on teachers and school staff are complex and varied,” says McBrearty. “Unfortunately, Ofsted is just one of the pressures that our educators are facing at the moment, and the final straw – that pushes them to leave the sector – can come from a range of sources.”

While Ofsted inspections aren’t only contributing factor, many staff would argue it’s definitely a piece of the puzzle.

‘Perpetual burnout’

Jo left teaching years ago due to perpetual “burnout” that was made worse by Ofsted inspections.

“I was signed off with work-related stress and never set foot in a classroom again,” the 47-year-old, who was working 12 hour days plus one day each weekend, tells me.

As Ofsted inspections drew near, Jo says it felt like the school went into a state of panic – like it was under attack.

“You were continually watching your back,” she says. “I worked in one school were they heavily suggested how to respond to inspectors so we could showcase ourselves as brilliant. The children knew when Ofsted were in too. They knew that they were going to be asked to talk to the inspectors and for some of the children, that was a real cause of stress and concern. They didn’t want to get you or the school into trouble.”

I loved being a teacher. I wouldn’t say I was glad I left, but if I stayed, I don’t know if I would still be here

Prior to and during inspections, Jo could hardly sleep as her stress levels rocketed. Stress that she eventually could no longer handle.

“I was a good teacher with outstanding elements to my practice, but just couldn’t do it anymore,” she says. “I had no quality of life outside of school. I would feel stress start to rise in me at about lunchtime on a Saturday and it would ruin my weekend. There was never any time to switch off and it impacted on my family life and life in general. I was often too exhausted to see friends and family, or the workload was just so great that I didn’t have the time to see them. My wake-up call was when one night, I sat in the car and thought that if I just drove into the wall to break a leg or an arm, I’d get 6 weeks off work. I knew then that I was not in a healthy place and when I saw the doctor the next day, they signed me off.”

After having left, Jo grieved the loss of a job she had done for 20 years. “I loved being a teacher,” she says. “I wouldn’t say I was glad I left, but if I stayed, I don’t know if I would still be here.”

Yet, for parents, who are looking to place their children in good schools, Ofsted inspections are one of the main ways to evaluate the choices available. A recent survey showed that 67 per cent of parents said Ofsted was a valuable source of information.

While needed, it doesn’t have to function as it does now.

“We need an inspection system that is based on trust and support,” McBrearty says. “Constructive feedback needs to be normalised, along with making more space for schools and headteachers to make improvements.”

The pressure on leaders

For school leaders, the pressure of Ofsted is even greater.

“The current system weighs far too heavily on individual headteachers and is not comparable to most other sectors,” McBrearty says. “We need to change high stakes inspections and stop depriving school leaders of the chance to change and grow … A single bad judgement shouldn’t be career-ending, apart from in the most extreme circumstances.”

Ruth Lue-Quee, a former deputy head, felt the pressure to perform well for Ofsted during her years in a leadership post.

She watched as teachers in her school did their best for a “subjective judgemental process”, with much of their time and energy being redirected on data and paperwork instead of teaching.

Headteachers can have built up an amazing reputation over a long career for it to be tarnished with the publishing of one report

“The pressure feels incredibly personal as leaders because ultimately we care, want to do the best for children, and don’t ever want to be labelled inadequate,” she says. “No teacher would want to provide inadequate opportunities for children.”

As leadership, the score Ofsted gave to Ruth and her school was important because it was what the outside world – the parents and community – saw.

“You also want validation for the hard work you put in day in, day out, at holidays, and on weekends,” she says. “The headteacher’s name is also on the top of the Ofsted report. It’s something very permanent that can never be removed. Headteachers can have built up an amazing reputation over a long career for it to be tarnished with the publishing of one report.”

After the birth of her son, Ruth decided to leave teaching to set up her own business as an educational and inclusion consultant, finally finished with the indefinitely long hours, and added pressures of Ofsted.

“It was the toughest decision ever at the time, but also best decision I could have made,” she says. “It breaks my heart though thinking about the education system my little boy is going to go through.”

Possible change

Each of the teachers spoken to for this article say they completely understand that inspections of some sort are necessary, but that they could be done in a more supportive way.

“I think there should be more informal, frequent support,” says Rebecca. “That they would come in and genuinely work with you, want to help, and get to know the school a bit more. They come in for 10 minutes and judge your whole ability, and that’s just a small snapshot.”

Ella would love if inspections were “little and often”, with every school assigned an inspector who would frequently come in, not to fail the school, but to help the school.

Instead of what she calls “fearmongering”, Ella just wants constructive critique that will help her and her other teachers to improve for the sake of the children in their care.

“I’d love for Ofsted to be a more collaborative process,” Imogen chimes in. “That we could go to them and say we’re struggling with some aspect – what help can you provide?”