Parents across England are set to receive a new kind of school report card this November, as Ofsted rolls out a five-point, colour-coded grading system in a sweeping overhaul of its inspections. The move, announced on September 9, 2025, has sparked intense debate, drawing both praise and criticism from parents, educators, and policy experts. At the heart of the changes lies a single, pressing question: will these reforms truly improve the lives of children and the wellbeing of their teachers, or do they risk repeating old mistakes under a new guise?
The new Ofsted report cards will replace the much-maligned one or two-word judgments—terms like "outstanding" or "inadequate"—with a more detailed scale. Schools, nurseries, and colleges will be graded as "urgent improvement," "needs attention," "expected standard," "strong standard," or the new pinnacle, "exceptional." According to Ofsted, the aim is to provide "greater nuance" and a fuller picture of school performance, rather than reducing complex institutions to a single label. As Sky News reports, the cards will cover a wider range of categories, including curriculum and teaching, early years, achievement, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development and wellbeing, as well as attendance and behaviour. Inclusion, notably, will now be a distinct graded category.
For parents, the changes promise more transparency. Each report card will highlight strengths and areas for improvement, making it easier to understand how a school is performing across different domains. Details will also be provided on safeguarding standards, what it is like to be a pupil at the school, and the next steps for improvement. Contextual factors—such as the number of children eligible for free school meals and other socio-economic influences—will be taken into account, offering a more rounded view of each school’s challenges and achievements.
Ofsted’s chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, emphasized the intended benefits: "Children deserve the best possible education; their parents deserve the best possible information, and education professionals deserve to have their work fairly assessed," he said, according to BBC News. "Our new report cards will give parents a clearer understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement at the places where their children learn. We will work with professionals in schools, early years, and further education to help them showcase the best of what they do and help them identify where they can improve."
Another notable change is the increased frequency of inspections for early years settings, which will now occur every four years instead of every six. This shift, as BBC News notes, comes with a sharper focus on the quality of education and care, aiming to ensure every child has the best possible start. Schools and colleges that fall below the "expected standard" will face additional monitoring inspections, designed to prompt swift action to raise performance. To help ease pressure on staff, an extra inspector will be added to school inspection teams.
The reforms were prompted by a period of profound soul-searching for Ofsted, following the tragic death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. Ms. Perry took her own life after her Reading primary school was downgraded from "outstanding" to "inadequate," a case that sent shockwaves through the education sector and led to widespread calls for change. A coroner ruled that the inspection contributed to her death. The new system, however, has not quelled all concerns.
A coalition of critics—including school leaders, former inspectors, trade unions, and Ms. Perry’s sister, Professor Julia Waters—has called for the government to delay the rollout. In an open letter to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, the group argued that Ofsted had "failed to learn the lessons" from Ms. Perry’s death. "There are, very much, high-stakes consequences for a poor judgement. Head teachers will still fear that they might lose their job and they have no redress," Prof. Waters told Sky News. She added, "Ofsted and the government have chosen to ignore that advice and plough ahead with what are really just cosmetic changes to the existing system which has been proven to pose a threat to life."
The critics’ letter went further, warning: "The proven life-threatening risks associated with a grades-based schools accountability system, based on public shaming and the fear of high stakes consequences, have not changed." The group cited ongoing concerns about the reliability, accuracy, and consistency of inspection results, as well as the "dangerous, negative impact of a punitive, grades-based inspection system on the welfare of the workforce."
Leaders of major teaching unions echoed these sentiments. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, was blunt: "Sir Martyn Oliver has failed. He was asked to bring in a system that reduced pressure. Removing the single word judgement was meant to be a powerful revolution, but this makes things much worse. More of the same. More pressure. More ranking and competition. More labels." Paul Whiteman, from the school leaders’ union NAHT, accused Ofsted of "perpetuating a high-stakes punitive regime" for teachers. Pepe Di’lasio, from the Association of School and College Leaders, warned that the implementation was "far too rushed and gives schools little time to prepare," adding that the new inspections would place "a huge amount of stress on school and college leaders and their staff because they will face so many judgements across so many areas."
Yet not everyone is opposed. A YouGov survey commissioned by Ofsted found that nearly seven in ten parents preferred the new format to the old reports, and nine in ten said the new cards were easier to understand. Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind, the UK’s largest parent charity, welcomed the changes: "For the first time, parental engagement is given clear priority: no school will be able to achieve top marks unless it demonstrates that it has got this right. This is a significant step forward."
Supporters argue that the new system offers a "fairer" assessment by describing all of a school’s strengths and areas for improvement, rather than reducing performance to a single word. The Department for Education has announced that these report cards will form part of a broader school improvement system, with new regional teams set to support 377 schools in need of help this term. "By providing a fuller picture of school performance—from attendance and behaviour to inclusion—we’re giving parents the transparency they deserve and schools the tools to improve," said Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Meanwhile, an independent assessment commissioned by Ofsted called for the reduction of high-stakes accountability and recommended more wellbeing support for teachers and school leaders who receive poor inspection results. Sinéad McBrearty, chief executive of the Education Support charity, emphasized the importance of prioritizing staff welfare alongside accountability.
As the November rollout approaches, both the promise and perils of the new Ofsted report cards remain in sharp focus. The coming months will reveal whether the reforms can deliver on their goals—improving transparency, raising standards, and safeguarding the wellbeing of those at the heart of England’s schools.
