13 July 2007
The new broader Ofsted inspection regime could be hindered by complex red tape, MPs have warned.
In a report published on July 12, the Commons education and skills select committee warns that a lack of focus in the new lighter-touch school inspections could lead some schools to neglect non-core subjects to improve their grading.
The MPs welcomed the potential for Ofsted to take a more comprehensive view of issues affecting children, but insisted that the changes 'must still ensure that a rigorous inspection framework, able to easily identify under-performing schools, is maintained'.
They also stress the importance of identifying early previously good schools that might be coasting.
Committee chair Barry Sheerman said: 'We cannot disguise our concern as to the fitness for purpose of the organisation at the present moment', warning of the dangers of what he called this 'large bureaucracy'.
He added: 'It still appears that Ofsted has no capacity to give advice when a cluster of local schools suffer from systematic under-performance.'
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