Lucy Powell is to overhaul Ofsted guidance within weeks after headteachers warn new inspection regime poses 'risk to life'

From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026 · last updated 22 September 2026.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell will announce fresh revisions to the Ofsted school inspections framework within weeks, following warnings from headteachers that the new colour-coded report card system is inflicting more distress than the single-word grades it replaced. A headteacher in Moreton, Wirral, was taken to hospital after suffering a suspected heart attack during an inspection last week. Powell said she was "absolutely" looking at changes and that the Government was "in listening mode".

The National Association of Head Teachers surveyed more than 5,000 school leaders and found nearly three-quarters said inspection standards had deteriorated over the past year.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said the new framework was "even more stressful" than the one it replaced and posed "a real and present danger" — "possibly even a risk to life."

Ruth Perry's sister, Professor Julia Waters, says more than a dozen teachers have reached out to her reporting extreme distress caused by inspections, even after reforms introduced in the wake of Perry's death.