Think tank: Ofsted inspectors lack key skills to make fair judgments

A think tank said that many Ofsted inspectors lack experience of primary teaching or special needs training.

16:40 18 March 2014

A think tank report claims that several Ofsted inspectors are not qualified to do their job because they lack experience of primary teaching, they are employed part-time by private firms and they don’t have special needs training. For this reason, the report suggested an accreditation exam before inspectors are sent to schools.

The report, which was entitled Watching the Watchmen and which was compiled after 300 head teachers were consulted, suggest that Ofsted reduce the number of inspectors it uses from private firms.

Report author Jonathan Simons said: "More needs to be done to drive up the quality of inspectors. Heads and teachers must feel confident that the person running their eye over their school is a specialist, preferably with recent teaching experience.

"Inspectors don't need to be rocket scientists but they must also have the ability to interpret the increasing amounts of data on the performance of schools, and understand the different ways in which schools are now operating.

"Schools should not be forced to second-guess what the inspector coming through the door will be like."