Consultations open on school accountability & Ofsted inspections

3 mins read

Tuesday 11 March 2025

This advice applies in England only.

The Department of Education (DfE) has opened a number of consultations for parents, carers and professionals to share their views on proposed changes.

The school accountability reform consultation is asking for feedback on changes to how schools are held accountable. It includes a new digital service offering a “one-stop shop” providing parents with information about schools. It applies to state schools in England.

Alongside this, Ofsted is consulting on proposals to improve education inspections. These proposals include new report cards to provide more detailed information on provider performance than current Ofsted reports. The proposals would apply to early years settings, state schools, independent schools and further education settings.

Finally, the DfE is also consulting on proposed changes to the use of reasonable force and other restrictive interventions guidance for England.

All these consultations close towards the end of April 2025.

Your View on school absence

In a recent interview, Ofsted boss Sir Martyn Oliver explained why he thinks persistent absent rates are soaring in schools. Oliver cited poor mental health, anxiety and depression, alongside lack of funding for nurses and education psychologists. But he also suggested that parents working from home has embedded a cultural of absenteeism among schoolchildren.

We think it’s important that those in positions of influence hear from parent carers how messages like this can sound. So we’ll be sharing more parent carer voices in our news stories, in Your View.

Kate* is an admin assistant and mum to Alex* who is 11 and autistic. Alex has struggled to attend his mainstream school for the past two years due to overwhelming anxiety.

Kate says:

“I would love nothing more than to see Alex happy and settled in school, rather than the current roller coaster of whether he will make it in that day. And I am yet to meet a WFH parent who would rather keep their child home than send them to school each day!

“In my case, I am trying to hold down my job, whilst trying to support my child’s mental health and begging for help for him. I am already under pressure from the school who say that his attendance isn’t good enough, and now I feel like I’m being shamed for working from home.

“To me, blaming hard working parents and struggling children for low attendance is an easy alternative to looking for a solution”. 

*names changed for confidentiality