{"id":244104,"date":"2026-04-03T11:43:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T10:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=244104"},"modified":"2026-04-03T11:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T10:43:45","slug":"special-school-ofsted-report-cards-drop-mainstream-comparisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/special-school-ofsted-report-cards-drop-mainstream-comparisons\/","title":{"rendered":"Special school Ofsted report cards drop mainstream comparisons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Special school Ofsted inspection report cards will no longer compare their cohorts to national mainstream averages after complaints from heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ofsted<\/a> provides contextual data about schools to parents, including data metrics such as capacity and pupil demographics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Schools Week <\/em>previously reported how special schools were being compared to mainstream schools within the same age range.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report for Rotherham-based The Willows School, for instance, shows that 100 per cent of pupils have education, health and care plans (EHCPs). But it is unusual for pupils to attend a special school without a plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the report card claimed this is \u201cwell above\u201d a national average of 3.1 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also stated that the 190-pupil school is \u201cwell below\u201d an average of 1,067, which related to secondary schools overall, including mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ofsted should re-issue reports, says leader<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Heads warned Ofsted that this was \u201cunhelpful and misleading\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New reports published this week simply show the schools\u2019 own data with no comparison. The only comparator was a school\u2019s location deprivation ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, reports published previously \u2013 at least 20 \u2013 will not be updated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Carratt, chief executive of Nexus Multi Academy Trust, said there was \u201ca clear public interest\u201d in re-issuing reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said there was a \u201cdrive for families to have greater transparency\u201d and a \u201crelatively small number of reports that would need amending\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ofsted did not address this but said: \u201cWe considered the feedback from special schools and have made a change to our report cards. We are grateful to those who raised this important issue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Schools Week previously reported how special schools were being compared to mainstream schools within the same age range<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311127,"featured_media":241629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25],"post-theme":[2378],"class_list":["post-244104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ofsted","post-theme-ofsted"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t