Push for ‘kinder’ Ofsted in doubt as boss of strict academy chain tipped for top job

The head of an academy chain renowned for strict discipline and high rates of suspensions is in line to be Ofsted’s next chief inspector – dashing hopes pressure on school leaders may ease after the death of a headteacher whose school was downgraded.

Sir Martyn Oliver, the chief executive of the Outwood Grange academies trust (OGAT), is reported to have been nominated as the next chief inspector of schools and children’s services in England, to take over from Amanda Spielman in January.

The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, was said to have chosen Oliver from a shortlist of two recommended by a selection panel, after being impressed by his commitment to refocusing inspections on outcomes such as pupil attendance and exam results.

The role has been in the spotlight since the death of Ruth Perry after her school was downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate” by inspectors. Perry’s family have blamed the harshness of the judgment for contributing to her death.

Oliver’s service on the Sewell commission on race and ethnic disparities, which was heavily criticised for its misuse of evidence, is said to have boosted his candidacy over the more experienced Ian Bauckham, the chair of the exam regulator Ofqual. The final decision rests with Rishi Sunak.

The Department for Education said: “No final decisions have yet been made on the new chief inspector of Ofsted.” An announcement is expected later this week.

One headteacher told the Guardian: “We hoped that the new chief inspector might be willing to listen to headteachers but the fear is that Martyn Oliver is an old-fashioned disciplinarian, [and] not going to bring in a kinder, gentler Ofsted.”

Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders and a former headteacher, said Oliver was a “highly experienced and effective” leader but that Ofsted’s overhaul should be high on his to-do list.

“We will be seeking reform of the inspectorate to ensure that inspections are more consistent, supportive and fairer,” Barton said. “There is widespread support for the scrapping of blunt, single-word judgments.

“We recognise that this isn’t a change that can be decided by the chief inspector – it is a government decision. However, we hope that the government will see sense and make this change, and we would certainly want to work with the next chief inspector on a system to replace graded judgments which works in the best interests of schools, parents and children.”

Other school leaders have been impressed by Oliver’s work in reviving struggling secondary schools in the Midlands and north of England, where OGAT administers more than 40 state schools, and say Oliver is generous in sharing resources with other trusts.

But some pointed at OGAT’s past record of persistently high levels of exclusions, and the trust’s reputation for strict discipline.

A Guardian investigation in 2018 revealed OGAT academies had some of the highest suspension and exclusion rates in England, with Outwood academy Ormesby in Middlesbrough formally suspending 41% of its pupils for at least a day in the previous school year.

The trust has also been criticised for targeting pupils with harsh sanctions. But Oliver, who has led OGAT since 2016, has defended the need for tough measures: “One school in Worksop was so bad that teachers used to lock themselves in their classrooms. The headteacher was assaulted three times in their first week. Pupils ran across tables during a lesson while we were doing due diligence,” Oliver said in an interview.

This year the DfE threatened to transfer Outwood Ormesby from OGAT to another trust after Ofsted placed the school in special measures and cited its high rate of suspensions. A subsequent Ofsted inspection in April said the school “remains inadequate and has serious weaknesses” but inspectors praised a more moderate behaviour policy, saying: “Leaders have recognised that they need to change aspects of the culture at the school.”

Some heads have queried OGAT’s exam results and limited subject offerings, with few pupils at some academies taking single science GCSE subjects such as physics. In some cases many pupils instead take alternatives described as “practical, vocational qualifications” such as health studies and “computer appreciation”.

Many OGAT schools have been rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, and the trust says its schools are “in areas of high deprivation which had been underperforming for years and were some of the most challenging in the system when we took them on … We prioritise inclusion, with the proportion of students in our schools with special education needs well above the national average.”