Ofsted’s chief inspector has vowed that the school’s watchdog will “never downplay” disappointing outcomes for disadvantaged and vulnerable students.
Addressing the Association of School and College Leaders’ (ASCL) annual conference, Sir Martyn Oliver is expected to state that Ofsted will “never succumb to the quiet curse of low expectations” and will make “no apologies for being more exacting”.
This comes after the new grading system for schools was launched in November, despite warnings from teaching unions about its potential impact on staff mental health.
Sir Martyn will tell school leaders: “We see thousands of schools working in challenging contexts, bucking the odds again and again to give children a life-changing education. But we sometimes see disadvantaged and vulnerable children who are not making the strides that they should.
“Some would have this be a dilemma for Ofsted. They argue we should recognise the work and the effort – and downplay disappointing outcomes.
“But this is no dilemma.
“Of course we will recognise the work, celebrate where that school is doing well and identify the contextual challenges being faced. But we can never downplay the disappointing outcomes.
“We will never acquiesce to the quiet curse of low expectations that would see Ofsted prioritise context over outcomes for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children.”
The speech echoes Tory former education secretary Michael Gove – and before him George W Bush – in naming “the soft bigotry of low expectations” as a barrier to children’s progress.
Ofsted scrapped single-word judgments for schools in 2024 after criticism of the inspection system following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
After a consultation, new report cards were rolled out from November 2025, which grade schools across multiple areas on a five-point scale.
More schools are receiving the new “needs attention” grade than the old “requires improvement” one, Sir Martyn is expected to say.
“We are being more exacting. I make no apologies for that,” he will add.
In an ASCL poll last year, two in three (65%) headteachers said the new system would be worse for their wellbeing than the old one.
NAHT school leaders’ union general secretary Paul Whiteman said while he is pleased to see the chief inspector wants to see all children succeed, “we have seen the rhetoric of low expectations repeated time and time again, and yet we are not clear where these are supposed to originate from”.
He added: “It is deeply disappointing to see confirmation that Ofsted has designed a framework that will see a higher proportion of schools receive a ‘needs attention’ grade than the old ‘requires improvement’ grade, and that Ofsted are publicly making a link between the two.
“Given the tragic circumstances that created the catalyst for the changes to inspection, it is quite remarkable that Ofsted has seen fit to ratchet up the pressure on schools and school leaders.”
Sir Martyn will say it is right that Ofsted must appreciate the context in which schools are working.
He will add that a “misplaced desire for Ofsted to lower the bar stems from a deep empathy with the professionals working in the most challenging contexts. But that lowering of the bar masks an ultimately damaging belief that some children ‘just won’t get there’.
“I don’t believe we can ever afford to accept that.
“Because when we expect less of certain children, whether because of where they live, what they need, or what’s happening at home, what we are telling them is: ‘We expect less of you. Society expects less of you.’”
NAHT’s bid to bring a legal challenge against the new system, which was supported by ASCL and the National Education Union (NEU), was dismissed at the High Court last year.
Ofsted and NAHT have since announced they will work together to look at how the watchdog’s new report card system is affecting headteacher wellbeing.
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