Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver has accused the “most vocal critics” of proposed inspection reforms of seeking a “low-accountability system”, as he insisted report cards “are not and never were going to bring about the end of grading”. In his keynote address at the (ASCL) conference in Liverpool on Friday, Oliver urged sector leaders to take part in Ofsted’s ongoing consultation into proposed reforms. The most vocal critics of the proposed reforms seem to be under the misapprehension that a new low-accountability system is possible The inspectorate proposes to replace single-phrase judgments with new “fairer” report cards with five grades across at least nine judgment areas. It will also end ungraded inspections and increase monitoring of under-performing schools. The proposals have been heavily criticised by ASCL, which said the new report cards would be 鈥渨orse than single-word judgments鈥 which were scrapped last year. General secretary Pepe D鈥橧asio said the new system would be 鈥渂ewildering鈥 for teachers, leaders, and parents, and accused the inspectorate of “devis[ing] an accountability system which will subject a beleaguered profession to yet more misery鈥. NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said the framework 鈥渞isks replicating the worst aspects of the current system and will do little to reduce the enormous pressure school leaders are under鈥. Criticism ‘seemingly based on misunderstanding’ – Oliver Addressing leaders on Friday, Oliver said the proposals have been met with some 鈥渞eally encouraging鈥 feedback, along with 鈥渁 small number of rather surprising responses鈥 which he claimed were 鈥渟eemingly built on a misunderstanding of what report cards are鈥. 鈥淭he most vocal critics of the proposed reforms seem to be under the misapprehension that a new low-accountability system is possible,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t isn’t. Ofsted will always put children and their parents first鈥. He said the report cards 鈥渁re not and never were going to be about less accountability鈥. Oliver said the proposed framework will help 鈥渕ove from low quality information and high-stakes inspection to a much richer, more nuanced set of information and sensible, supportive and proportionate accountability鈥. He welcomed the DfE鈥檚 consultation on accountability which it recently launched, and urged leaders to complete both it and Ofsted’s consultation. The new report cards will see schools and colleges assessed across nine different judgment areas using a five-scale grading system, from 鈥渃ausing concern鈥 to 鈥渆xemplary鈥. Critics have said the proposal simply rehashes the previous framework, giving teachers more assessment areas rather than reducing pressure. They also fear the new grading system will be less reliable, and make Ofsted鈥檚 鈥渋nability to accurately capture the complexity of a school far more apparent鈥. Ofsted working to make toolkits clearer Ofsted has begun trialling its proposed inspection framework, which it plans to pilot with 240 “visits”. Oliver told the conference inspectors and leaders have reported “that they found the new approach to be more flexible and more collaborative.” But he acknowledged concerns over a lack of clarity in the toolkits and said Ofsted is working to rectify this. He said feedback shows “we have more work to do on defining the differences between grades, particularly between secure and strong, so that work has begun too,” he said. ‘Some form of grading is necessary’ 鈥淚 know there are some who want a system without grades,” Oliver told the ASCL conference. “But Ofsted is not there to just divide schools into those who are meeting a minimum set of standards and those who aren鈥檛.” He said he wanted 鈥渢o be clear鈥 that report cards 鈥渁re not and never were going to bring about the end of grading鈥. He said a “met/not met system” would not serve schools, arguing that “even the weakest [have] strengths worth noting, and even the strongest [have] things they needed work on.” “Our proposed system recognises this complexity. It recognises that you can be doing great work and still have things to improve. And it recognises that you can need to improve but still have things worth celebrating,” he said. Laughter as Oliver says ‘don’t do anything for Ofsted’ Oliver told the ASCL conference nothing in the standards proposed by Ofsted “should be a surprise or require extra work” from school leaders. Laughter erupted round the conference hall in Liverpool, as he told the hundreds of leaders gathered: “I don鈥檛 want you to be doing anything 鈥榝or Ofsted'”. “I hope that you will find nothing in there that you are not already doing, or at least aspire to be doing,” he added. “Or to put it another way, I hope there鈥檚 nothing in there that you would just stop doing if we didn鈥檛 exist.” Ofsted’s reforms come after a coroner ruled an inspection contributed to the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry. The coroner found that 鈥減arts of the Ofsted inspection were conducted in a manner which lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity” and “it was at times rude and intimidating”. Oliver used his speech on Friday to say Ofsted “want[s] inspection to be a collaborative dialogue on an equal footing”. “We want you and our inspectors to be able to openly discuss where you are and where you鈥檙e heading,” he said. People ‘struggling to understand’ removal of single grades Asked further about the reaction to the proposals, Oliver told journalists people were 鈥渟truggling to understand the removal of the overall effectiveness grade鈥 and the fact 鈥測ou can now be strong at something and need to pay attention at another thing鈥. 鈥淵ou can be two things at once, strengths and weaknesses鈥 and it’s going to take time to deal with that level of change.鈥 Oliver said he believed Ofsted鈥檚 approach to monitoring and the DfE providing support to more schools could 鈥渕assively鈥 reduce pressure. 鈥淚’m saddened that people haven’t yet managed to understand and engage with that part of it.鈥 He added he was getting 鈥渞eally incredibly positive feedback as well as genuine good challenge. So it isn’t all negative.鈥 ‘A better way of using inspection time’ Asked about concerns inspectors would struggle to assess against least nine areas, he said the 鈥渕ethodology is very different now鈥. He said now instead of doing deep dives into certain subjects, inspectors could look across the curriculum while also asking about teacher development, achievement, behaviour, attendance. 鈥淵ou don’t inspect each one of the areas in silo.鈥 鈥淪o I don’t hold with the fact that I need more people. I think it’s a better way of using the time that I’ve got, and I hope that the spending review will allow me to do even more on that.鈥 Reassurances over SEND Ofsted’s inspection toolkit has two sections for the new proposed “achievement” inspection area. The first, “achievement in national tests and examinations, where applicable”, states a secure grade would require exam attainment to be “broadly in line with national averages”. This has prompted fears it could act as a “barrier” to inclusion, discouraging schools from taking pupils with SEND. However, the second section, “achievement across the curriculum”, states that a school could get a secure rating if “pupils with SEND achieve well from their starting points and, where relevant, against their individual targets”. Pressed on leaders’ fears about SEND, Oliver said the different ratings across nine areas meant 鈥測ou can say to a school you are doing exceptional work, but your results aren’t yet good enough鈥. But he said data 鈥渋s only ever the start of a conversation. It is not the end. 鈥淪o you could walk into a school where they’ve taken lots of in-year transfers, they’ve suddenly got a massive influx of children with an EHCP, there could be all sorts of reasons why their academic results are below average, and yet they could be exemplary for achievement. 鈥淎nd that’s why you need a human inspector who has that transactional conversation, and not a data driven only area.鈥 Schools already using toolkit for ‘self-improvement’ Oliver also said the inspection toolkit was designed to 鈥渟o clearly articulate the standards at every single level that they’re of use to schools and nurseries and colleges all of the time, not just the once every four years or five years or six years that we inspect them鈥. He said he had had 鈥渜uite a lot of people send me text messages saying, already, we know it’s not the final piece of work yet, but already, we’re using this as a self improvement tool鈥nd we’re finding it really helpful to self evaluate our schools鈥. He said that was 鈥渨hat I want them to do鈥, adding it would mean there would be 鈥渁bsolutely no need for charlatans, snake oil salesmen鈥 who offer Ofsted preparation advice to schools. Ofsted’s consultation is available . are available 365 days a year. You can reach them on free call number 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit to find your nearest branch. runs a confidential helpline for education staff and teachers 鈥 call 08000 562 561.