Further written evidence to be reported to the House
Education and Skills Bill
12:00 pm
Jonathan Shephard: Christine is the expert on this, so I shall give a very brief answer. There is a concern about creeping regulation and Ofsted-isation. The management standard, which came completely out of the blue, is particularly worrying because, if you have Ofsted imposing a management standard on all independent schools, then the way in which the schools are run will tend to conform with that standard. You may or may not like independent schools—there are perfectly valid views held on either side—but they do educate children at all levels of ability in a very good, effective and workmanlike way. They do that because they are able to be flexible and responsive and they have to answer to three demanding constituencies: parents, children and universities. If you get a one-size-fits-all, increasingly prescriptive manner from Ofsted, which is beginning to set criteria for qualifications of staff, you may lose that flexibility and independence and that is a very serious worry.