Do schools that employ an inspector get better inspection grades?

Abstract

In England, a substantial proportion of school inspections are conducted by current school leaders. This may lead to concerns that this gives their school (about 2% of schools) an advantage in the inspection process when it is their turn to be inspected. Yet scant evidence exists on this issue. This paper thus presents the first evidence on this matter, using data obtained via a freedom of information request and linking this with other publicly available information about England's schools. We find that schools where a member of staff also works for Ofsted receive better inspection outcomes than schools without an inspector on their payroll. Our findings nevertheless suggest that other schools may benefit from having access to the training material and professional development opportunities Ofsted provides to its inspectors.