TWO education unions have joined the NAHT school leaders’ union’s legal action against the regulator Ofsted, it was announced today.

The National Education Union (NEU) and Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) will provide witness statements and will support its judicial over the potential impact of its new inspections on the mental health of school leaders and staff.

The NAHT warned that “adequate consultation has not been conducted regarding the plan for a new five-point scale to grade schools” when it launched its action earlier this year.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said that his union’s members have “deep concerns” about the impact of Ofsted’s reforms.

“It is not inevitable that school inspection should be so high-stakes, so punitive and so burdensome for schools. It is certainly not the solution to recruit and retain a motivated and successful school workforce,” he added.

ASCL general secretary Pepe Di’Iasio said that it was a “sorry state of affairs” that legal action was the only avenue available for unions to get Ofsted to reconsider its plans.

“We have spent months trying to persuade the inspectorate to understand that its five-point grading scale will certainly not improve stress levels, which experts already describe as ‘concerningly high’, and that it is likely to make matters worse in many cases,” he added.

An Ofsted spokesperson insisted that its “new-look reports will be better for parents and their children — because they provide more detailed and useful information” and be “fairer” for schools.

“It’s really disappointing that these unions have taken this stance — even after months of genuine discussions between us,” they added.