Almost nine in 10 (89%) members of a headteachers’ union support exploring options for industrial action over Ofsted proposals.
The NAHT school leaders’ union said members have expressed serious worries over Ofsted’s planned new system, which is due to come into effect in November.
Asked during an online meeting of nearly 2,000 school leader members, 89% agreed the union should consider options for industrial action should Ofsted’s proposals go ahead, NAHT said.
NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said: “This was the biggest turnout we have had at a meeting of our members since the pandemic, and the strength of feeling was palpable.
“We heard loud and clear that these plans simply do not have the support of the profession and should not go ahead in their current state.
“Rolling them out would pose clear risks to the health and wellbeing of school leaders and teachers.
“The worrying findings of Ofsted’s own independent wellbeing assessment should have been a red flag, but instead it has rushed ahead regardless, tinkering around the edges while failing to properly work through the recommendations of this assessment.
“We will now liaise with our national executive committee to consider next steps – but we are appealing once again to Ofsted and Government to put the brakes on these hugely flawed plans.”
This comes after Ofsted unveiled its response to a consultation on its new report card plans last week.
It confirmed it would push ahead with the new report cards from November, despite calls to delay, though the five possible grades were renamed as urgent improvement, needs attention, expected standard, strong standard, and exceptional.
The NAHT said members raised concerns that the continued use of grading would perpetuate a high-stakes inspection regime, harming the wellbeing and mental health of themselves and their staff.
NAHT president Angi Gibson said: “This framework not only continues with grading but extends it. It will be impossible for inspectors to judge schools definitively across so many areas during what is simply a two-day snapshot.
“It risks unfair judgments which mislead parents while also piling workload onto schools.”
A poll by YouGov found almost seven out of 10 parents surveyed preferred the new-look report cards to Ofsted’s current inspection reports.
However, an independent report by Sinead McBrearty, the chief executive of teacher wellbeing charity Education Support, said that stakeholders had called for the roll-out of the changes to be stopped or slowed down.
Single-word judgments for schools were scrapped last year following criticism of the inspection system since the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Mrs Perry took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from its highest rating of “outstanding” to its lowest rating, “inadequate”, over safeguarding concerns.
Professor Julia Walters, sister of Ruth Perry, said last week that Ofsted’s new plans “still put school leaders at risk of public shaming”, and urged the education secretary to halt the rollout.
Ofsted carried out a consultation – called the Big Listen – in a bid to “reset relationships” with teachers while “retaining the confidence” of children, parents and carers.
In February 2025, a further 12-week consultation set out a series of proposals for change, with more than 6,500 responses received.
Earlier this year, the NAHT issued a claim to the High Court for a judicial review, saying that adequate consultation had not been conducted regarding the education watchdog’s report card plans.
