Ofsted has come under fire from two committees of MPs criticising its failure to highlight the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal and the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ plot in Birmingham schools.
The inspectorate has been warned its “credibility is now on the line”, as the Communities and Local Government Select Committee calls on it to reinspect local authorities after its “shortcomings” in Rotherham.
The Education Select Committee has also expressed concern about Ofsted’s work, saying it must “act to restore confidence” over its judgements on Birmingham schools, after allegations of attempted takeovers by people seeking to impose a view of radical Islam on students.
The committee found the number of different inquiries “contributed to the sense of crisis and confusion” and that there was a “worrying and wasteful lack of co-ordination”.
Graham Stuart, the committee’s chairman, said there was not “any evidence of a sustained plot”, and that apart from one incident, “no evidence of extremism or radicalisation was found”.