Heads dismayed by new school inspections plan

School inspectors will report their findings directly to pupils as a result of a shake-up in the way schools are inspected. Under the new system to be announced today, each pupil will receive a letter outlining how their school has fared.

School inspectors will report their findings directly to pupils as a result of a shake-up in the way schools are inspected. Under the new system to be announced today, each pupil will receive a letter outlining how their school has fared.

David Bell, the chief inspector of schools and head of Ofsted, the education standards watchdog, said the changes were a "response to the fact that pupils are surrounded by intense activity during inspections but are often never told, in language they understand, what the outcome is."

The plans were criticised by headteachers' leaders, who claimed it could cause disciplinary problems.

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "I think the chief inspector has gone off the rails. If he is determined to go down that route, he had better make sure he does not give pupils ammunition to criticise individual teachers or wider groups who could be identified from the report."