Ruth Perry: Ten more headteachers left suicidal in wake of Ofsted inspections, former inspector reveals

A former Ofsted inspector helping struggling headteachers claims it’s ‘not unusual’ for leaders to consider suicide following an ‘inadequate’ rating

At least 10 other headteachers have been left suicidal in the wake of Ofsted inspections, a former inspector has revealed, as a coroner found a damning inspection had contributed to Ruth Perry’s death.

Perry, 53, took her own life in January this year, months after Caversham Primary School in Reading was downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate” after safeguarding concerns were raised during an inspection by the schools watchdog in November 2022.

Her death sparked an outcry among headteachers across the country, and led to widespread calls for Ofsted to overhaul its one-word school ratings system.

This week, a coroner announced she was issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths report to highlight concerns over the impact of the Ofsted inspection on Perry’s welfare, following a six-day inquest into the headteacher’s death, which was recorded as suicide. It comes as a parliamentary inquiry into the schools watchdog, launched in the wake of Perry’s death, is under way.

Former inspector Julie Price Grimshaw, who now supports struggling headteachers, said that in the current “high stakes” climate – where schools graded “inadequate” are forced to become academies and headteachers can lose their jobs – it is sadly “not unusual” for school leaders to be left so devastated that they consider taking their own lives.

The number of suicidal headteachers she has personally supported through the charity Headrest, a 24-hour wellbeing service for stressed headteachers, has stretched into double figures.

Calling for a “root and branch” overhaul of Ofsted, Ms Price Grimshaw told The Independent: “In the worst-case scenario, people’s mental health has been badly damaged. We have had people say they have considered suicide following an ‘inadequate’ grade.

“And in the last few years, that figure – in cases I have dealt with – does go into double figures. It’s not unusual for headteachers to feel suicidal following their inspection.”

Headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life after her school was downgraded by Ofsted (Brighter Futures for Children)

Due to the complex nature of mental-health-related deaths, the exact number of school leaders affected is not clear. Stress caused by Ofsted has been cited in 10 coroners’ reports in the last 25 years, according to research by safety at work group Hazards Campaign and the University of Leeds – including the report issued after the death of award-winning headteacher Carol Woodward, who took her own life in 2015 after her school in Plymouth was downgraded.

Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 10 women and 24 men classed as senior professionals at educational establishments – a category that includes headteachers – died by suicide in the decade between 2011 and 2021. However, it is not known if any of their deaths were linked to Ofsted or teaching pressures.

For primary-school and nursery teaching professionals, this number leaps to 210 women and 10 men in the same period. At secondary-school level, numbers climb yet further to 281 male and 22 female teaching professionals.

Senior coroner Heidi Connor concluded that the conduct of Caversham’s lead inspector, Alan Derry, was at times “rude and intimidating”, after a deputy headteacher told the inquest he had held up his hand to interrupt during one tense meeting.

Ms Price Grimshaw believes this sort of behaviour is all too common, with some inspectors making teachers feel like they are being “interrogated”.

“I would say, in the past year, there have been a lot of issues with inspector conduct. You will have seen this idea of this inspector putting his hand up to stop people talking. That is incredibly common,” she said.

“In one school, a leader said the inspector held up his hand and said ‘You need to stop talking because I am not listening.’ Just rude and unprofessional conduct.”

She said some headteachers report that inspectors are very pressed for time and make quick judgements based on “flimsy evidence”. She added: “Some inspectors just behave in an unprofessional way, making people feel anxious and stressed. Making people feel like they are being interrogated.

“One inspection I was at, years ago, I had to remind an inspector that they were speaking to a fellow professional. It was bad, but this is quite typical.”

The inquest heard that Perry contacted her local GP as well as local mental health services after the Ofsted inspection (PA Wire)

The hearing that followed Perry’s death also heard evidence from the two other members of Mr Derry’s team, including Gavin Evans, who was a newly trained HMI (Ofsted inspector) taking part in his first inspection.

Mr Evans told the coroner that, based on his subsequent experience, “more often than not” headteachers will cry during an inspection. This was later clarified by Ofsted’s director of education, Christopher Russell, who claimed that these were usually tears of relief.

During one meeting with the lead inspector, it was reported that Perry had broken down in tears and appeared to be in “physical pain” after learning that her school would be downgraded.

However, Ms Price Grimshaw said she could count “on one hand” the number of times headteachers had cried during the more than 200 inspections she was involved in as an HMI between 2001 and 2006 and later working for the Department for Education until 2014.

“I was involved in over 200 inspections, and it wasn’t normal for people to cry at all,” she said, adding that even if teachers cry out of relief, it shows that the stress involved is too high.

She said that the current system, which sees schools that are graded “inadequate” forced to become academies, needs “radical reform”, while Ofsted’s focus should be more on helping schools to improve.

“Stakes are very high now. If they get ‘inadequate’ they are worried for their jobs and what will happen to the school now,” she added.

The inquest was told that in the weeks after the inspection, Perry was also worried that house prices in the community would go down as a result of the school’s grade.

Calling for an end to the one-word Ofsted judgements, Ms Price Grimshaw said: “Being a head is hard enough – you don’t want the responsibility of the local economy on your shoulders as well.

“Estate agents only mention the grade because it’s easy to mention a one-word grade. I am a big advocate of scrapping single-word judgements. Ofsted needs root and branch reform.”

The former inspector urged headteachers struggling with a difficult Ofsted inspection to contact Headrest for advice and support.

She said: “I find that once headteachers are able to speak about it, they realise they are not alone in this experience, and we can also help to signpost them to further support when needed. We can help them to write a letter about what happened, or support them if they want to go into the complaints procedure.”

Ofsted announced that inspections would be paused for a day next week as they deliver new guidance to lead inspectors in the wake of the coroner’s findings.

Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman issued an apology to Perry’s family for the “distress” they had experienced as a result of the inspection.

“As a first step, we will delay our inspections next week by a day so we can bring all our lead school inspectors together ahead of further school inspections. As well as addressing the issue of anxiety, we will be clear with inspectors what to do if a pause is needed,” she said, adding that schools will now be provided with a number to call if they have concerns about an inspection.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.