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Schools with an above-average number of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities are more likely to be marked down for attendance and behaviour, an analysis of Ofsted inspections has found.

The NAHT school leaders’ union has today warned that the watchdog’s new inspection framework is unfairly penalising inclusive schools at a time when the government is seeking to promote inclusion.

The union said an analysis of more than 650 inspections has revealed that the likelihood of a “needs attention” judgement for achievement and attendance and behaviour is significantly higher for schools serving areas of high deprivation or with a higher proportion of pupils with SEND.

It found that 20 per cent of schools with an above-average intake of pupils with SEND received a “needs attention” grade for attendance and behaviour, compared with 9 per cent of schools with below average numbers of pupils with SEND.

The analysis also found that 33 per cent of schools with an above-average pupil eligibility for free school meals received a “needs attention” judgement for achievement, compared with 18 per cent of schools with below-average pupil eligibility for FSM.

This comes after ����Vlog revealed earlier this year that schools with the highest proportion of disadvantaged pupils were almost three times more likely to be marked down by Ofsted on their achievement grade than schools with the lowest proportion.

Schools with high SEND marked down for attendance

The NAHT reviewed the final reports of 662 Ofsted inspections after the schools watchdog launched its new inspection framework last November.

Ofsted now inspects schools across six different evaluation areas on a five-grade scale.

The union found that almost 19 per cent of schools with the highest numbers of pupils with SEND received a “needs attention” judgement for attendance and behaviour, compared with 3 per cent of schools with low numbers of pupils with SEND.

The sector has previously raised concerns about Ofsted’s decision to combine the attendance and behaviour evaluation areas into a single judgement.

As ����Vlog first reported, there are warnings that the combined evaluation area risks “punishing” schools in difficult contexts and masking schools’ successes.

‘Deepening sense of fear’ of new framework

School leaders attending the NAHT’s annual conference this weekend will debate and vote on a number of Ofsted motions.

It comes after the union’s legal challenge against the inspectorate’s new framework was rejected last year.

A motion to be debated at the conference will call on the NAHT’s executive to strengthen campaigning for “urgent, meaningful reform of the inspection system”.

Another motion warns of “increased stress, heightened workload and a deepening sense of fear” for those leaders who have experienced new inspections.

It urges the executive to explore legal, industrial and campaigning strategies to challenge the framework and promote an alternative approach that safeguards leaders and staff.

Conference delegates will also be asked to support a motion which states that the current methodology used to calculate performance measures unfairly penalises inclusive schools.

The NAHT’s annual conference will take place in Belfast from Friday 1 May to Saturday 2 May.