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• What happens in an Ofsted inspection?
• Making sense of the Ofsted reports

Ofsted inspections were set up in 1993 to provide a “comprehensive and impartial picture of how well a school is performing.” Yet they have attracted all sorts of controversy: the inspections bring about a great deal of stress for teachers; damning or glowing ratings cause sensations in the playground – and the media; and parents even move house on the basis of an Ofsted report. But do the reports really tell us parents all we need to know about our children’s existing or prospective school(s)? Not necessarily, it seems.

One teacher I spoke to describes Ofsted reports as: “A slightly wonky snapshot of a school taken at a given time, by a certain panel of individuals, according to specific and sometimes changing criteria.”

That’s because the inspectors are only in for a short period of time, and much may have happened to the school since a particular report was published. What’s more, the criteria that Ofsted use to judge a school may not reflect the issues that are important to you and your child.

So although Ofsted reports can provide an overview of how a school is performing, they certainly don’t give you the whole picture. When consulting the Ofsted report for your local schools, don’t be tempted to take everything at face value and always go and visit the school for yourself.

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