Schools will be assessed by pupils in new-look government inspections

Pupils will be formally asked for their views on their schools and the standards of the teaching they are given for the first time when the inspection system is reorganised.

Pupils will be formally asked for their views on their schools and the standards of the teaching they are given for the first time when the inspection system is reorganised.

The move by Ofsted, the Government's education standards watchdog, is backed by ministers and is designed to help inspectors to build a better picture of schools' strengths and weaknesses. It could also expose any bullying problems.

The views of secondary school children will be sought first, but Ofsted plans to look at ways to survey children in nursery and primary schools as well.

Ofsted will outline the plan on Monday, when it publishes a consultation document – which has been seen by The Independent – on the future of inspections.

One of the ways that the consultation could be done is by asking pupils to complete questionnaires, a plan that is likely to be piloted in secondary schools this year.

Parents, too, will be given more chances to speak to inspectors in private, or to contact Ofsted directly, on subjects such as bullying and education standards. An inspection could be made if their fears were thought to be serious.

Estelle Morris, Secretary of State for Education, said the plan fitted the aim of encouraging pupils to take a more active role in their education, outlined in the White Paper published earlier this week.

But John Bangs, the head of education at the the National Union of Teachers, said the scheme could add to the "hostility teachers feel about the inspection process". Marjorie Evans, a Welsh headteacher who had been cleared of assault after a court case, had been accused on the basis of only one pupil's statement, he said.