An academy trust leader has called for greater transparency over how Ofsted handles complaints after revealing how he persuaded senior officials to “set aside” a negative report amid criticism of inspectors. Ofsted visited Oakwell Rise Primary Academy in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in early 2020. Inspectors told leaders it would be rated 鈥榬equires improvement鈥. But the report never saw the light of day after Mark Wilson, chief executive of the Wellspring Academy Trust, complained directly to Ofsted鈥檚 chief operating officer Matthew Coffey about 鈥渂ullying鈥 behaviour. Wilson has decided to speak out after a coroner ruled in December that an inspection contributed to the suicide of Caversham Primary School headteacher Ruth Perry. 鈥淲e held up a mirror and showed Ofsted that it had a problem with some inspectors two years and 10 months before the inspection at Caversham Primary School. They had and have had ample time to put their house in order. Have they done that? And how should we know?鈥 ‘I demanded to speak to the top’ Wilson called Ofsted during the inspection 鈥渋ncensed by the behaviour and conduct of the inspectors in this case鈥 and the impact on the school鈥檚 leaders. 鈥淚 simply did what anyone in any other walk of life would do in the circumstances, which was to pick up the telephone and demand to speak to the person at the top.鈥 Mark Wilson He also raised a formal complaint alleging 鈥渂ullying”, “intimidating questioning” and problems with the inspection process. An investigation into the conduct of the lead inspector was launched. Complaints about 鈥渙nerous requests鈥 for information and about the inspection timetable were upheld, documents seen by Schools Week show. Complaints about the judgments awarded, a lack of communication and the accuracy of evidence were not upheld. But the inspection was deemed 鈥渋ncomplete鈥 and a re-visit was carried out. After several months, Ofsted told Wilson it had 鈥渄ecided not to publish this school report鈥, and inspectors would return after lockdown. In its letter, the watchdog said although it had 鈥渘o legal power to void an inspection鈥, it had 鈥渘o duty to publish鈥 reports on its website. ‘A rare and significant act’ A different inspection team returned in 2021, . Inspectors said 鈥減upils, parents and staff say that the school has been transformed鈥. The school had been in special measures before joining Wellspring in 2017. Wilson said the two inspections 鈥渨ere as different as chalk and cheese鈥. 鈥淔or Ofsted to set-aside an inspection is, to the best of my knowledge, a rare and very significant act on their part,鈥 he added. 鈥淲e submitted a 78-page complaint about the unprofessional attitude, conduct and management of the inspection that had incensed me so much that I was prepared to take our complaint public. 鈥淚 remain firmly of the view that Ofsted did not want the detail of that complaint out in the public domain.鈥 Wilson said the formal complaints process was 鈥渦nhelpful in the extreme. I felt institutionally stonewalled and brushed off. 鈥淚t was only by acting outside of the published process direct with the chief operating officer, was I able to secure a natural justice outcome to the matter that had prompted my complaint.鈥 ‘We followed our policies’ – Ofsted A watchdog spokesperson said it had 鈥渇ollowed our policies, including the complaints process of the time and our protocol for gathering additional evidence鈥. 鈥淭his was happening while the country was heading into lockdown in 2020. When inspections were suspended and our inspectors were diverted to supporting local authorities and other priorities, the school remained unsatisfied. Ruth Perry 鈥淕iven the unprecedented circumstances, we decided that the fair and pragmatic thing to do was to set the inspection aside until lockdown was over and we could return to the school.鈥 Ofsted reformed its complaints process in the wake of Perry鈥檚 death. It scrapped its internal review process for schools concerned their complaint was not processed completely. Schools can now go directly to the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted. Inspections can now be paused for up to five days if there are concerns about wellbeing. Tom Middlehurst, curriculum, assessment and inspection specialist at the ASCL union, said school leaders 鈥渇ind the lack of consistency and transparency within Ofsted鈥檚 complaints process deeply frustrating鈥. He welcomed 鈥渟mall steps in the right direction鈥, but warned there was 鈥渟till a long way to go in order to win back the trust of the profession鈥. Wilson added: 鈥淭he power asymmetry of the model is toxic.鈥 Ofsted does not collect data on how many times it has withheld a report entirely. Schools Week understands it intends to do so in the future.