Lucy Powell is expected to order Ofsted to overhaul school inspections after teachers report harm and urge to quit

From the Newshound archive · first published 3 October 2026 · last updated 4 October 2026.

A quarter of teachers in a recent survey said an Ofsted inspection had made them want to leave the profession, and nearly two in three felt the new report card framework was no improvement on its predecessor — or was actively worse. Education Secretary Lucy Powell is now expected to instruct Ofsted to fundamentally rethink its approach to assessing inclusion, following a wave of concerns from teachers. The development comes three years after headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life in the wake of an inspection that downgraded Caversham Primary School from the top grade to the bottom.

The National Education Union, surveying over 1,500 members, found more than four in five reported a recent inspection had negatively hit their stress levels.

Powell told a Labour conference fringe event the system must move away from 'box-ticking' and give far greater weight to the socio-economic context of each school.