Ofsted to review two education catch-up reforms

22 Sep 2021 10:33 AM

Ofsted has been asked by the government to carry out an independent review of two key catch-up reforms: tutoring and teachers’ professional development.

The reviews will investigate how the government’s policies are working on the ground, through a mixture of research visits, evidence from our inspections and other methods. They will assess the progress and, where possible, the effectiveness of the government’s education recovery plans.

Tutoring in schools and 16 to 19 providers

The tutoring review will consider the overall quality of tutoring offered by schools and 16 to 19 providers, irrespective of whether it is provided directly or through National Tutoring Programme (NTP) tuition partners.

The evaluation will also consider how well schools and 16 to 19 providers are integrating tutoring into their curriculum planning and delivery, its effect on the overall quality of education, and the likelihood that it will help children catch up.

The review will seek to answer a number of questions, including:

• whether there is a coherent, evidence-based rationale for selecting particular pupils/students for tutoring
• what selection criteria schools/16 to 19 providers are using when recruiting tutors
• whether the planned content in tutoring aligns with the existing curriculum
• what pupils/students are being taught in tutor sessions
• whether pupils who have been tutored are able to learn more effectively in their normal lessons

The findings of the review will be published in summer 2022 and summer 2023.

Teacher professional development

Our review will look at the quality of training and development received by all teachers, with a particular focus on the early career framework (ECF) and national professional qualifications (NPQs).

We will be collecting evidence throughout academic years 2021/22 and 2022/23 to establish the main features of effective teacher development in schools. This data will also help to determine whether the reforms are having an impact on education recovery priorities.

This review will answer the following questions:

• what training and development teachers and leaders are receiving
• whether senior leaders value and prioritise the development of teachers
• the quality of professional development
• whether the improvements in professional development have led to teaching and leadership improving in schools
• whether improvements in professional development have had an impact on pupils’ catch up

The findings of the teacher professional development review will be published in early 2023 and early 2024.

Please find the full terms of reference for the independent review of tutoring and independent review of teacher professional development.