Be cautious of consultants who claim to be ‘Ofsted Inspectors’, Ofsted warns
It is becoming more common practise for schools to employ consultants to carry out mock inspections ahead of official Ofsted inspections, and the regulatory body has taken steps to clamp down on this practice.
While the guidance admits it cannot tell head teachers how to spend their money, it urges caution in recruiting anyone claiming to be an OI, as legitimate inspectors are now prohibited from using the title of inspector outside of official Ofsted business and are prohibited from carrying out mock inspections.
The guidance reads: “Ofsted cannot prevent self-employed individuals (as some of our OIs will be) from legitimately obtaining other work. However, our contracts with OIs restricts them from calling themselves Ofsted Inspectors when doing anything other than inspection activity for us. As such, we advise schools to exercise caution in recruiting any consultants who describe themselves as Ofsted Inspectors. OIs are strictly prohibited from carrying out so-called ‘mocksteds’.”
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