The National Education Union has been accused of pushing its anti-Ofsted agenda through a supposedly “independent inquiry” after it published a biased survey heavily critical of the inspectorate.
The poll, published by the Beyond Ofsted inquiry on Wednesday, said 92 per cent of teachers agreed Ofsted was not a “reliable and trusted arbiter of standards”.
It attracted national press coverage, with journalists told the research was conducted by the UCL Institute of Education.
However, when asked by Schools Week, the inquiry – which was set up and is funded by the union – admitted the survey was self-selecting. This is considered a common type of research bias because respondents choose to take part, making it unrepresentative.
