Majority of readers say ALL schools should be inspected, regardless of ratings

A massive majority in our poll wants regular Ofsted inspections for all schools, even if their previous inspection was "Outstanding".

An exemption, introduced in 2012 under which “outstanding” schools did not have to face routine Ofsted inspections, would be scrapped. This means schools of all grades will be given equal scrutiny. Is this necessary?

We asked: “Do you think all schools should be regularly inspected, regardless of their rating?”

At the time of writing 410 people had voted in our Facebook poll, with 95% saying yes, just 5% no. Here are some reactions.

Caz Rae said: “A school rated outstanding can only be seen as that at the time of the inspection. Many things can cause a school to slip, new head, new senior management team, different governing body, new builds etc. All schools should be regularly inspected.”

Ange Titch Hedley agreed, saying: “Yes because they may not still be outstanding.”

Kelly Cairns said: “Yes! My son’s old school hadn't been inspected for 10 years because it got outstanding. So much changes in that time. For the worse in this case. They failed the Ofsted visit when they finally did one last year.”

Angela Young agreed, saying: “Yes they need to be inspected as policies and expectations change within the time frame.”

Lynn Elliott said: “Some people base their decision about where to send their children on Ofsted reports. So to me, how can such an important decision be made with out of date information?”