The government has announced that thousands of ‘outstanding’ schools may never be inspected by Ofsted again. A new Academies Bill has already been published which will allow all successful schools to automatically become academies, taking them out of local authority control and giving them the freedom to employ their own staff, set their own admissions policy and depart from the national curriculum.
The proposed exemption from inspection will mean that highly-rated schools will soon also be free from the burden of Ofsted inspections in future. Head teachers of ‘outstanding’ schools are likely to welcome the policy as a sign that the government trusts teachers to run their schools effectively. However, the move has not gone down well in all quarters, with teaching unions commenting that it will create an alarming lack of on-going accountability in thousands of schools.
Posted by Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
