Project researchers: Prof Christian Bokhove, Prof John Jerrim (UCL), Dr Sam Sims (UCL)

Sponsor: Nuffield Foundation

This project will provide new insights into the reliability and consistency of Ofsted inspections.

Ofsted plays a crucial role in the education system as the school inspectorate. Parents, teachers and policymakers take significant interest in their judgements, the outcomes of which can have serious consequences. However, their consistency across inspectors and schools have been questioned, especially as inspection visits have shortened and teams reduced in size.

Few large-scale quantitative studies have investigated these concerns. Difficulties in assembling the relevant data is one possible explanation for the limited body of research on this important topic, since the structured data published by Ofsted does not contain the detailed information required. To address this research gap, the research team will be using cutting-edge text mining and natural language processing techniques to extract the information available within Ofsted’s written inspection reports; thereby, allowing for a better understanding of the consistency and usefulness of Ofsted judgements.