Why have Ofsted scrapped one-word school ratings?

Watchdog's controversial gradings to be replaced by new 'report cards'

Photo collage of Ofsted ratings and a child at a desk
Labour has scrapped Ofsted's headline ratings, calling them 'low-information for parents and high-stakes for schools'
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images)

Single-word Ofsted ratings for state schools will be scrapped with immediate effect as part of "radical" changes announced by the government.

The four gradings currently awarded by Ofsted inspectors – "outstanding", "good", "requires improvement" and "inadequate" – will be replaced by "report cards". These will be "aimed at improving standards and helping parents to better understand schools' strengths and weaknesses", said The Guardian.

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 Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.