Single word Ofsted grades SCRAPPED with immediate effect after suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry

SINGLE word school Ofsted grades are being scrapped with immediate effect, the Education Secretary has announced.

Bridget Phillipson is replacing the judgments with “report cards”.

PA

Ruth Perry took her own life in 2023 after Ofsted downgraded her school from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’[/caption]

The aim is to give parents a more rounded view following pressure from unions to change the system after the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry.

Her school had been downgraded by the watchdog from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

The Department for Education says 77 per cent of parents support binning one-word ratings.

Ms Phillipson said: “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.”

The report card system will launch in September 2025 and be developed over the next year.

In the interim, there will be grades in four different categories. Until now, Ofsted awarded one of four from outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.

The previous Tory Government had resisted calls to scrap one-word assessments.

The National Association of Headteachers is “pleased the Government has taken swift action”.

But it could spark criticism that ministers are scrapping easy indicators of performance.