OFSTED should not be “marking its own homework,” unions warned today, as more than 500 complaints about inspectors’ conduct last year were handled by the body itself. 

A freedom of information request by the PA news agency revealed there were 1,199 complaints about Ofsted in the year to March 2023. 

Of these, 502 included concerns about the behaviour of inspectors.

Ofsted dealt with 2,237 complaints over three years, with 938 relating to inspectors’ conduct – but only 18 were fully upheld in 2023.

The inspectorate has come under greater scrutiny after the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry last year.

A coroner ruled that an inspection “likely contributed” to Ms Perry's death after her school was downgraded from the highest to the lowest rating over safeguarding concerns.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said the figures “demonstrate what everyone knows about the toxic culture at Ofsted and its impact on school staff, particularly school leaders.”

He said the inspectorate “should not be marking its own homework,” and that there should be an independent body that handles complaints.

School leaders’ union NAHT said it welcomed measures to improve the complaints process last year but backed calls for them to be handled by an independent body.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said Ofsted should reform how it operates “to improve the reliability and usefulness of inspections while reducing the unacceptable toll on the wellbeing and mental health of leaders and teachers.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said that the body had “recently introduced a new, more transparent process, including the option for leaders to call a senior person at Ofsted if they have any concerns during their inspection.”