As many of you will be aware, following the tragic death of Ruth Perry and the subsequent inquest, her family successfully campaigned for the removal of one or two word ratings in schools. On 2 September 2024 it was reported that Ofsted would no longer be issuing one-word ratings in relation to inspections of schools. This decision was implemented with immediate effect.
There will be a consultation regarding the proposed new “report card” system which is scheduled to begin in early 2025. Ofsted hope to be able to start implementing this in September 2025.
Back in April 2024, the Department for Education under the previous government maintained that there were some significant benefits to having a clear overall grade. Clarity for parents and other stakeholders is often cited as a key reason.
However, Bridget Phillipson, the current education secretary has explained that “Single-headline grades are low-information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing- that’s what our report cards will provide”.
Additionally, following their ‘Big Listen’ campaign, Ofsted have published their response which can be found here. Ofsted will be pausing the publication of inspection reports when safeguarding concerns are identified in an otherwise high-performing school, until inspectors re-visit the school within 3 months giving schools time to resolve issues.
There has been a lot in the press about schools and the changes being implemented, but what about social care?
Children’s social care
Currently single word ratings remain for these settings regulated by Ofsted but in the ‘Big Listen’ response, which can be found here, Ofsted have made a commitment to “work with the DfE to replace the single-word judgement for overall effectiveness”.
They are looking to make this change in order to “give more nuance to allow us to pinpoint and call out local, regional and national systemic failings”.
Ofsted’s ‘Big Listen’ feedback confirmed that Ofsted are working with the government on the legislation surrounding children’s social care.
It has been rumored that single-word ratings for children’s social care establishments will be removed from April 2026. It is likely that the implementation of the reforms in schools will be of great interest to providers in order to give them insight into what might happen in social care down the line.
There is no commitment to pause publication of inspection reports when safeguarding concerns are identified in a similar way to schools.
Adult Social Care
CQC’s introduction of single word ratings in its quality assessment processes was originally inspired by Ofsted. On 10 September 2024, the Local Government Association called for one-word ratings to be scrapped in adult social care too.
The pressures of CQC assessments can be acute, especially given the difficulties CQC are finding themselves in with the implementation of the Single Assessment Framework (“SAF”). The issues found with single word ratings in schools are equally applicable to social care and it can be incredibly stressful for managers, staff and providers.
At the moment there has been no commitment to review the single word ratings system in services regulated by CQC. Given the disastrous implementation of the SAF, it is likely that there are more urgent matters to consider in the short term. CQC are unlikely to be able to avoid this approach and will certainly need to consider whether one or two word ratings remain appropriate.
Conclusion
It is a turbulent period in the history of regulation of social care. There are likely to be many changes in the next few years. It will be of great interest to see whether the removal of single-word ratings is successful in the education sphere and whether it can be applied to social care. If removing the single word ratings reduces the burden on providers and managers, whilst still allowing for a clear reporting system to be in place, I for one would welcome this change.
If you have had difficulties with CQC or Ofsted and are seeking legal support, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01483 451 900 or email us at sols@gordonsols.co.uk. Our team would be happy to help.
About the Author
Solicitor
- Tel: 01483 451 900
- Email: Lucy@gordonsols.co.uk
Lucy is a regulatory lawyer acting for health and social care providers within the firm’s Health and Social Care Department. Clients include care homes for adults, domiciliary care agencies, children’s homes, nurseries, childminders, Pre-schools and independent hospitals.