A significant proportion of school inspections in England are conducted by contractors – many of whom are staff employed by a school, often in a school leadership role.
These individuals are privy to certain inside knowledge and training that are not available to most schools. For instance, they will receive regular training about the inspection framework, and what inspectors should (and should not) look for when they are judging a school.
This may lead to concerns about the potential advantages this brings to the school where these individuals work. For instance, in October last year, a storm broke out over the leak of some Ofsted training material, with claims that individuals with access to them (such as contracted inspectors) would have an unfair advantage in the inspection process.
