If even Ofsted is highlighting workload the government must surely act

Ofsted is often – and rightly – criticised for not doing enough to point out the impact of funding and recruitment pressures on the schools and colleges it inspects, and the part that these systemic issues play in outcomes.

After all, it is obviously ridiculous to downgrade a school or college for circumstances entirely outside its control, with all the resulting repercussions of that negative judgement, particularly as those circumstances derive from the government’s neglect of the education system.

It is hard to see how the inspectorate can be a force for improvement if it fails to diagnose the problem.

And there is something Kafkaesque about a government agency passing judgement on perceived deficiencies in a state institution caused by another government department’s inability to competently run that public service. But there you go. That’s the system.