School leaders’ union calls for Ofsted inspections to pause

• ASCL’s council passed its no-confidence motion on 9 October, criticising the impact of Ofsted’s renewed inspection framework.
• The union wants the government to pause inspections and review the system.
• ASCL says it will ask members whether to hold an indicative ballot on industrial action if changes do not follow. That survey is not a strike ballot.
• The National Association of Head Teachers is also due to discuss its next steps, including industrial action.

ASCL represents more than 25,000 school, college and trust leaders across the UK. Its membership spans roles from headteachers and principals to deputy heads, business leaders and trust staff, so the figure is not a count of headteachers or of members eligible for any particular ballot.¹

The union’s council says the renewed inspection framework is causing significant workload and wellbeing problems. It wants the government to pause inspections while the system is reviewed. ASCL also argues that the methodology penalises schools serving disadvantaged communities, and that report cards may not be clear to parents without inspectors’ guidance materials. Those are the union’s criticisms, not findings established by its vote.²

The immediate next step is a member survey asking whether ASCL should hold an indicative ballot—a preliminary test of support for industrial action. The union has not announced a survey timetable or results. It has not announced that an industrial-action ballot is open.²³

The dispute is over a redesigned inspection system introduced in 2025. It replaced the single overall-effectiveness grade with ratings across several areas. The change was intended to reduce pressure on staff, but the arguments over workload and wellbeing persist.⁴

An interim evaluation commissioned by Ofsted gives a mixed picture. Among surveyed schools, 88% said their latest inspection had affected staff wellbeing negatively to some degree; 29% said the effect was “a lot”. Across the wider group of providers surveyed, 76% said inspectors had worked collaboratively with them. The findings cover early implementation, not every school, and come from a survey with an average response rate of about 27%.⁴

The National Association of Head Teachers’ general secretary, Paul Whiteman, said its executive committee would debate next steps at a meeting due at the end of the following week, with industrial action among the options. That is a discussion, not an announced ballot. On 5 October, the National Education Union welcomed the government’s reported commitment to urgent relief from inspection pressures and said it would work with Education Secretary Lucy Powell.⁵⁶

Ofsted says workload and wellbeing remain challenges and that it is working with the Department for Education on them. The department says inspections are vital but should be fair, proportionate and sensitive to the circumstances of each school.³

Footnotes

1. Association of School and College Leaders, “Who we are and what we stand for”. ↩

2. Association of School and College Leaders, “ASCL passes motion of no confidence in Ofsted’s leadership”. ↩ ↩²

3. Schools Week, “ASCL council passes no confidence vote in Ofsted’s leadership”. ↩ ↩²

4. IFF Research, Ofsted renewed EIF and ITE inspection frameworks evaluation: summary of interim findings. ↩ ↩²

5. The Guardian, “Headteachers threaten strike ballots after losing confidence in Ofsted”. ↩

6. National Education Union, “Government’s Ofsted inspections overhaul: NEU response”. ↩