Ofsted ex-chief says schools bill ‘very likely’ to make education in England worse

Oftsed’s former chief inspector has sparked a row with the government after saying the proposed legislation on schools was “very likely” to make education in England worse.

Amanda Spielman, who was head of the schools inspectorate in England when primary headteacher Ruth Perry killed herself in 2023 after an Ofsted inspection, said the changes outlined in the education bill “put unions and union members ahead of children”.

After two decades of progress with the introduction of academies, which have been allowed greater autonomy than council-maintained schools, Spielman said the proposals put forward by the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, were a “significant reversal”.

The children’s wellbeing and schools bill was due to go before MPs in the Commons again on Monday, while on Tuesday an interim report into the government’s curriculum and assessment review is expected to be published.

Her comments drew a sharp rebuke from No 10. A spokesperson said: “Amanda Spielman should spend less time criticising the reforms this government is bringing and more time reflecting on her failure at Ofsted and on a teaching profession that entirely lost confidence in her as chief inspector.”

To which she responded: “That’s fascinating in itself, because that’s a union line.”

Spielman, who was Ofsted chief from 2017 to the end of 2023, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme on Monday: “For over 20 years now we’ve had a steady policy of giving schools and academy chains quite significant levels of autonomy, balanced by strong accountability, and over that time it’s very clear that the performance of the English system relative to others has been very strong.

“Indeed we have many people looking to us and visiting, wanting to learn from what’s happened in England, to take into their own systems.

“So at just that point, to see a whole raft of initiatives – these academy provisions in this bill, the curriculum and assessment review, the review of teacher training standards, and several other initiatives – that seem to add up to a very significant reversal, without any analysis of what’s been good and what’s been less good.”

The wide-ranging legislation includes proposals for registers for children who are not in school as well as greater scrutiny of parents seeking to home educate their children. Criticism has been directed at measures that limit the freedoms currently enjoyed by academies, which would have to teach the national curriculum and employ only qualified teachers.

Asked if the changes would damage children’s education, she said: “I think it’s very likely they will add up to something that will, because the common thread running through seems to be they are about changes that are likely to please unions, that essentially put unions and union members ahead of children.

“Unions inevitably prefer systems that are highly centralised with government.”

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, denied that the education secretary was “parroting a union line” with regard to the government comment on Spielman’s tenure as Ofsted chief inspector.

He defended the bill, describing it as aspirational. Kebede said: “This bill is largely about setting a level playing field and if you want my honest opinion this bill does not go far enough.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our landmark children’s wellbeing and schools bill – alongside our new regional improvement teams and Ofsted reforms – delivers on our mission for every child to have a good, local school; will get high-quality teachers into every classroom; and ensure that all schools can innovate to attract and retain the best talent.”

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