Ofsted inspection “contributed” to headteacher’s death: Coroner

An Ofsted inspection "contributed" to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, a coroner has ruled.

Ms Perry was the head at Caversham Primary School in Reading, who took her own life while waiting for a report that downgraded her school to "inadequate".

Senior coroner Heidi Connor said the inspection "lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity", during which Ms Perry’s mental health “deteriorated significantly”.

The coroner’s verdict was recorded as "suicide, contributed to by an Ofsted inspection carried out in November 2022."

The report highlighted the following “most important areas of concern”:

1. The conduct of the inspection itself.
2. The current Ofsted system which allows for the single word judgement of ‘inadequate’ to be applied equally to a school rated otherwise good, but with issues which could be remedied by the time the report was published, as to a school which is dreadful in all respects.
3. The confidentiality requirement at the time.
4. The length of time between the inspection and final report, thus lengthening the period of the confidentiality requirement.

The coroner is to issue a regulation 28 report, setting out action that should be taken to prevent future deaths.

Ofsted chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, has apologised for “the distress that Mrs Perry undoubtedly experienced as a result of our inspection”.

She added: “The coroner highlighted a number of areas of concern. We will work hard to address each of these as soon as we can, and we are starting that work straight away.”

The regulator revealed it has delayed its inspections next week by a day.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Firstly, our thoughts remain with Ruth’s family. This will have been a gruelling week and no verdict can heal the harm that has been caused by Ruth’s death.

“The verdict is a clear and damning indictment of an approach to inspection that has done massive harm to school professionals. We have heard in detail just how bad the impact of Ofsted inspection can be on school leaders’ mental health – something NAHT has been warning about for many years. This tragedy never should have happened.

“We now need urgent change. Ofsted has no choice but to seriously reflect and make changes to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again”.

Caversham Primary school has since been restored its original rating of “good” based on a visit in June, after the school instituted legal proceedings.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “My heart goes out to Ruth’s family, friends and the school community. Her death was a tragedy that not only shocked the local community but also the wider sector and beyond.

“It is clear from the coroner’s findings that lessons need to be learned. We have worked closely with Ruth’s family as well as with Ofsted to introduce key reforms and further support for our school leaders. I am extremely grateful to Ruth’s sister, Julia, and her friends for working so closely with us to introduce these changes.

“Ofsted is fundamental to making sure children are safe and receive the education they deserve. Together we will look closely at the coroner’s recommendations to consider further changes to make sure we have an inspection system that supports schools and teachers, and ultimately secure Ruth’s legacy.”