Revolution was rushed, warns ex-Ofsted head Baroness Sally Morgan

 
Speaking out: Baroness Sally Morgan (Picture: Chris Eades)
Anna Davis @_annadavis30 September 2014

Education has faced a “rushed revolution”, allowing poor quality academies to open and free schools to be set up by unsuitable groups, the former chairwoman of Ofsted has warned.

Baroness Sally Morgan, who stepped down from her role at the watchdog this month, said the education world was suffering the consequences of changes which allowed “ideology to trump common sense”.

In what could be seen as an attack on former education secretary Michael Gove, who failed to appoint her for a second term at Ofsted, she said: “Meaningful reform can’t rely solely on passion and vision, nor on ideology; it also entails working with what already exists … 

“It is always tempting to have a take-no-prisoners approach to reform. But in truth, this way has a limited shelf life. At some point reformers have to reach out and form alliances because they need other people to make their reforms work.”

She told private school headteachers at the annual gathering of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) in Newport that academies now account for two thirds of state secondary schools.

She explained: “There are hundreds of academy chains, some of which have grown exponentially.

“Unfortunately, quality control has been poor and the opportunity to build incentives for strong performing schools to help weaker ones were not built into the system for fear of precisely that — a system. Patchy results, mismanagement and the occasional scandal have been the inevitable result.”

She added: “In the rush to disrupt the prevailing order unsuitable groups were allowed to open [free] schools.”

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