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The “absolutely horrendous” workload created by new Ofsted inspections is driving schools to create rafts of new documents in an attempt to be ready for the call, headteacher leaders are warning.

The need for leaders to create new documents, reports and policies is being blamed on Ofsted’s requirement for schools to meet every standard in order to receive a favourable judgement.

Nearly half of senior leaders in secondary schools and nearly two-fifths in primary schools polled by Teacher Tapp said their school has produced new documents in response to inspection report cards being introduced.

And the majority of the 2,000 senior leaders polled last week reported their schools making changes of some kind in preparation for Ofsted.

In contrast, 36 per cent of primary school respondents and 29 per cent of secondary respondents said their school has not made changes or produced new documents.

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Documents being created include new inclusion policies, vulnerability matrices for specific students and attendance monitoring reports.

Leaders also report implementing new schemes, policies or tracking focused specifically on handwriting and oracy.

Ofsted methodology ‘onerous and pernicious’

Keziah Featherstone, co-chair of the Headteachers’ Roundtable think tank, said: “The workload impact of the new inspections is absolutely horrendous.” The number of schools producing documents will increase as more schools move into the inspection window over time, she predicted.

Schools are now “expected to record whether children have previously had a social worker” - but some would not have this information if, for instance, it related to an adoption that happened well before they were in school, she added.

Ms Featherstone criticised Ofsted’s decision to use a “secure-fit” methodology - meaning that every grade descriptor has to be met in order for a school to be awarded a particular grade - and the focus on national averages in achievement judgements.

“It feels onerous and pernicious, and it is penalising schools for their cohorts,” she said.

Ofsted launched its report card inspection system in November after a consultation following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. A coroner ruled in 2024 that an Ofsted inspection had contributed to her taking her own life.

Instead of giving schools an overall effectiveness grade, inspectors now judge schools across at least six evaluation areas using a new five-point scale.

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James Bowen, assistant general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said a change of Ofsted framework will always drive workload for schools, but that it was a particular problem this time.

The way the inspection toolkits have been designed “almost encourages schools to create documents in order to make sure they have everything covered - an entirely understandable response”, he said.

The “long list of bullet points for standards needing to be met in each area”, coupled with the secure-fit approach, was leading to schools “producing documents to ensure they feel they can provide evidence for every element of the framework”, he added.

����Vlog previously revealed that heads and Sendcos involved in the first wave of inspections had found the workload “brutal”.

This came after Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver promised heads that nothing in the changes should “require extra work from you”.

Mr Bowen said it is now “absolutely essential” that Ofsted continually reviews the workload implications of the new framework.

“Ofsted has been quite direct in saying that it doesn’t want inspection to drive workload, so it must be prepared to listen to school leaders’ feedback if that is happening,” he stated.

Andy Jordan, inspection and accountability specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said the new inspection framework has “undoubtedly created additional workload”, and warned that it “would be naive for Ofsted to think otherwise”.

The survey data “clearly undermines Ofsted’s assertion that schools don’t need to do any specific work in preparation for inspection”, he said.

Schools would “obviously” want to be prepared for “the entirely new evaluation area of inclusion”, he said.

Mr Jordan added: “Most schools will also have changed their internal self-evaluation, and really have no choice in this, as they will be asked as part of Ofsted’s planning call how they judge themselves against the new five-point scale and evaluation areas.”

Teacher Tapp also asked what impact the changes have had on students so far.

Some 55 per cent of primary school respondents said there had been no noticeable difference, and among secondary respondents the figure was 49 per cent.

In both phases, 17 per cent said changes have had a positive impact. Some 7 per cent of primary teachers and 6 per cent of secondary teachers said changes were negative.

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Our inspection toolkits reflect the standards that schools are already expected to meet in statutory and non-statutory guidance. We’re not asking providers to do anything they shouldn’t already be doing, and we certainly don’t want schools creating unnecessary paperwork just for inspection purposes - it’s not necessary.

“At the same time, we know schools will naturally keep policies and practices under review to keep up with the latest guidance and will always strive to do the best they can for their pupils.”