London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Quit your Ofsted roles, Perry's sister tells heads

Quit your Ofsted roles, Perry's sister tells heads

Head teachers in England should stop serving as Ofsted inspectors, says the sister of a head who took her own life after an inspection.

Ruth Perry died while waiting for a report that downgraded her school.

Prof Julia Waters was speaking to members of a head teachers' union which is also asking members who work as Ofsted inspectors to consider quitting.

Ofsted said most school leaders thought inspections were "constructive and collaborative".

It comes as a school in Cambridge is set to challenge Ofsted in court for not following correct procedures, after an inspection left its head teacher feeling suicidal.

In an emotional address at the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) conference, Prof Waters said a "terrible injustice" had been done to her sister, and she would not "give up until Ofsted is radically reformed".

Ms Perry took her own life in January, weeks after an Ofsted inspection. The Ofsted report, published after her death, downgraded her school's rating from Outstanding to Inadequate - going from the top to the bottom of the grading scale.

"The injustice of that one-word judgement destroyed Ruth's career, her world and her sense of self," Prof Waters said.

She said head teachers who served as inspectors were "no doubt" doing their "best", but were working with "a flawed, inhumane system".

She called on them to remove references to Ofsted grades from their websites and schools.

"Stand up to Ofsted, speak out, take down your banners, hand in your badges," she said. "Ofsted must be reformed."

The NAHT also passed an emergency motion asking members to "consider refraining from carrying out inspections".

Ruth Perry, who took her own life in January, had been waiting for an Ofsted report rating her school as "inadequate"


Prof Waters previously told the BBC that Ofsted inspections should be paused, so that an independent inquiry into what happened at Ms Perry's school, in Reading, could take place - as well as a review of the culture of inspections at Ofsted.

Last week, Amanda Spielman, Ofsted's chief inspector, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that she believed the findings of last year's inspection were "secure".

She said the inspection team had "worked with the professionalism and sensitivity that I would expect".

Asked if she had concerns about what happened, she replied: "From what I've seen, I don't have any reason to doubt the inspection."

Prof Waters said Ms Spielman's response was "totally inadequate".

Ofsted has described Ms Perry's death as a tragedy.

A spokeswoman for Ofsted said their inspections were "first and foremost for children and their parents - looking in depth at the quality of education, behaviour, and how well and safely schools are run".

"We always want inspections to be constructive and collaborative and in the vast majority of cases school leaders agree that they are," she added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×