The NAHT leaders’ union has lost its appeal against a decision by the High Court to throw out its legal challenge to new Ofsted inspections. The union filed a claim for judicial review at the High Court in May, warning members feared the increase in the number of sub-judgments under new report cards 鈥渨ill only increase high-stakes accountability and pressure鈥. The new inspections, which began this month with volunteer schools, involve settings being judged with one of five grades in up to eight judgment areas. The union opposed the report card proposals on legal grounds, 鈥渁rguing that adequate consultation has not been conducted regarding the plan for a new five-point scale to grade schools鈥. Its action was supported by the National Education Union and ASCL leaders鈥 union. But earlier this month the High Court denied the NAHT permission for a judicial review, At the time, the Honourable Mr Justice Saini said 鈥渢he merits of Ofsted鈥檚 report card grading system鈥 and 鈥渋ts approach to the well-being issues raised, are not matters for this court鈥. He said a judicial review court must ensure a public body 鈥渁cts in accordance with the standards of procedural fairness the law requires, including not predetermining the outcome before consultation鈥. 鈥淚n my judgment. There was no arguable error on these matters.鈥 ‘Drop talk of further action,’ says Ofsted The NAHT appealed against that ruling, but found out this week it had lost. General secretary Paul Whiteman said: 鈥淲e are disappointed with the outcome of the appeal. 鈥淲e will now explore all our options, including any further legal challenges and industrial action. The health and safety of our members must not be compromised by the recklessness of the inspectorate and the government.鈥 An Ofsted spokesperson said: 鈥淲e welcome the Court of Appeal’s confirmation that our consultation was fair. “We hope talk of further legal or industrial action will be dropped, so that we can return to working constructively with NAHT, as we have always sought to.鈥 ASCL says leaders report ‘massive’ demands It comes as ASCL warned that based on feedback from its members, it was 鈥渃lear that far from reducing workloads, the renewed framework is increasing the burden on senior staff. , the union鈥檚 inspection and accountability specialist Andy Jordan, said that while the approach 鈥渇eels more collaborative鈥 and an increased focus on context had been 鈥渨ell-received鈥, there were a 鈥渞ange of concerns which leaders have raised with us and that we have passed on to Ofsted鈥. 鈥淥ne school leader told me that the demands 鈥榳ere massive鈥 and another said that when inspectors left at 5pm on day one, senior leadership team members still had several hours of work to complete.鈥 He raised a particular concern about 鈥渃ase sampling 鈥 where Ofsted looks at a selection of six pupils with specific needs鈥. Jordan said the 鈥渁rbitrary nature of selecting six students 鈥 whether the school has a cohort of 25 or 1,500 鈥 seems disproportionate”. He added that one leader had told him the 鈥渃onclusions drawn as a result of the experiences of six pupils may not truly reflect provision across the institution and could lead to skewed assumptions鈥.