Independent research shows high parent support for Ofsted’s report card proposals

In tandem with the current consultation on improving education inspection, Ofsted recently commissioned YouGov to independently survey parents’ views of the proposals for report cards. In a speech to Parentkind today (26 March 2025), Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, will describe the headline results.

The online poll of 1,090 parents found that 79% of those surveyed said they already trust what Ofsted says about a school in inspection reports, and 66% support Ofsted continuing to grade schools on a scale (10% said they were opposed).

On the proposals currently out for consultation, 78% of parents surveyed agreed the information in report cards would be useful to them, and the same proportion said the new cards would make it easy to compare schools. Meanwhile, 86% said report cards were easy to understand and 84% found the use of colour coding helpful. Overall, two thirds of participants (67%) said they prefer the new report cards over current inspection reports, while just 15% said they preferred the current reports.

When asked which of the 11 proposed evaluation areas for schools they considered to be the most useful, approximately half of parents ranked behaviour and attitudes highest (51%), followed closely by personal development and well-being (48%), then safeguarding (41%) and achievement (35%).

In his speech to Parentkind today, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, is expected to say:

The changes we’re proposing will do things differently. We will report on a much wider range of areas. Things that matter to parents. Things like behaviour, achievement, attendance, teaching and the curriculum, leadership and governance, and inclusion – really looking in detail at how schools make sure their pupils all have a sense of belonging, especially those who are disadvantaged, vulnerable, or have special educational needs. For each area, parents will be able to see a clear grade, and a description of what we found when we inspected the school. 

Report cards will help give a more balanced picture of schools. Because the best schools aren’t perfect and have areas where they could do better, and the schools which might be seen as ‘weaker’ will have aspects of their work that they do really well. In that way a school’s report card will be much closer to a child’s school report. Going back to my art teacher days, the one-word grade paints a monochrome picture of a school, we want to paint it in colour.

Sir Martyn will conclude:

Above all, we hope this approach will drive ever higher standards for children. It will give schools an independent and expert assessment of what they’re doing well and where they could improve. It will validate, assure, and celebrate their hard work, and shine a light on how they can do even better. 

And it will help parents meaningfully engage with the school on the issues that need attention. Sometimes, it may validate your concerns, other times it may reassure you that an individual experience is not the norm.

Of course, what I’ve set out today are our proposals, they are not set in stone. I’m sure there are things that could be better. Things we could refine. But we are encouraged that parents seem to support the broad approach that we have set out.

The full results of the YouGov research will be published alongside Ofsted’s response to the consultation in early summer.

Notes to editors

1. Parentkind is one of the UK’s largest federated charities. It has supported parents and schools to build strong and supportive school communities for almost 70 years and has a network of more than 23,500 schools, parent teacher associations (PTAs) and parent councils.

2. The total sample size for the survey was 1,090 parents. Fieldwork was undertaken between 5 to 11 March 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted by age, marital status, social grade, gender and region. It’s representative of all parents in England (aged 18+ and excluding parents in education).