Yahoo News 23 North East secondary schools to lose 'Outstanding' rating after Ofsted rules change
Over 20 North East secondary schools are set to lose their 'Outstanding' rating after a change to Ofsted grading rules. The practice of issuing an overall grade, either Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate has been scrapped.
Ofsted inspections will now result in gradings which are related to individual aspects of a school’s performance. As of July 31, 495 secondary schools in England had achieved an 'Outstanding' rating at their last inspection, with 22 of the 171 in the North East receiving the grading, around 13%.
These numbers can be broken down across the region, as in Stockton-on-Tees, five of 13 schools were rated 'Outstanding', with this proportion of 38% the highest in the North East. This is followed by Gateshead at 22%, Redcar and Cleveland at 20%, and Hartlepool at 20%.
Read more: One-word school Ofsted grades scrapped with immediate effect as new 'report cards' to come in
The 'Outstanding' gradings will be lost the next time the schools are inspected, and you can see the schools that were rated 'Outstanding' near you using our interactive map.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "The need for Ofsted reform to drive high and rising standards for all our children in every school is overwhelmingly clear.
"The removal of headline grades is a generational reform and a landmark moment for children, parents and teachers.
"Single-headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing - that’s what our report cards will provide.
"This Government will make inspection a more powerful, more transparent tool for driving school improvement. We promised change and now we are delivering."
The changes come after years of debate about whether one word can sum up the complexity of a school. This intensified after it was found that an inspection contributed to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life after learning of her school's 'Inadequate' grading.
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, added: "We have been clear that simplistic one-word judgments are harmful and we are pleased the Government has taken swift action to remove them.
"We are equally pleased that the Government intends to place a stronger emphasis on supporting schools to improve where they need help, rather than defaulting to heavy-handed intervention or knee-jerk changes of governance structures."
