Leaders fear schools will be tempted to exclude pupils who are less likely to hit top grades so they can score highly in Ofsted’s new “achievement” evaluation.

Ofsted has said “inclusion” will be a key focus of its new framework, with schools to be judged on a standalone “inclusion” area.

But Jonny Uttley, the chief executive of the TEAL trust who led an inclusion study for the Centre for Young Lives charity, said this was offset by the achievement judgment being “heavily geared towards achievement above-average”.

For instance, the Ofsted toolkit states to achieve a “strong standard” grade, pupils – including those with SEND – must “consistently achieve well, develop detailed knowledge and skills, and produce high-quality work across the curriculum”.

“Typically, this achievement will be reflected in above-average outcomes in national tests and examinations over time, including for disadvantaged pupils,” it adds.

To hit the top “exceptional” grade, “exceptionally high standards of achievement” must be “sustained”. This will be reflected in “consistently high outcomes” in national tests and exams.

Uttley told Schools Week: “To do really well on ‘achievement’, [a school] would have to be performing above-average – so there’s an incentive to curate your roll.”

‘You could continue to curate the school roll’

Schools could find it easier to achieve higher grades for inclusion and achievement if they had fewer pupils with EHCPs, he said. The new framework also fails to account for “subtle versions” of off-rolling.

“A school could turn away children with new EHCPs…they could have lots of kids going into elective home education, lots of kids leaving on suspensions, exclusions, managed moves…and still score highly on inclusion.

“You could continue to curate the school roll, and then do a really good job for the kids who actually come to school.”

An independent wellbeing report, commissioned by Ofsted, found stakeholders were concerned the new framework would affect “selection at the point of entry to a school”.

This would “increase the incentive for ‘cream-skimming’ in the sector”, and leave schools committed to inclusivity “with an ever more challenging intake”.

At a press briefing on Monday Lee Owston, Ofsted’s national director for education, refuted this, saying: “There is no tension between inclusion and achievement.”

He said achievement “is around national outcomes” but “is also about broader outcomes”.

“For those children with SEND, that can be about their preparation for adulthood and the opportunities they may have for training and employment.”

Ofsted ‘missed a trick’

Kiran Gill, the chief executive and founder of The Difference, also welcomed Ofsted’s expanded definition of inclusion “to acknowledge poverty and safeguarding concerns”, as well as SEND.

But she said Ofsted had “missed a trick” in “not taking a data-led approach to inclusion accountability”.

“Inclusion is measurable by students’ wellbeing and belonging, and by levels of absence from class…and sanctions,” she said.

Ofsted must also “provide a clearer definition of what constitutes ‘inclusive practices’”.

Caroline Barlow and Keziah Featherstone, co-chairs of the Headteachers Roundtable, said the creation of a standalone judgment for inclusion “runs counter to the widespread understanding across the system that this should be an embedded design principle for schools, not a separate consideration”.

However, Owston and Adam Sproston, senior inspector for SEND, have previously said inclusion “will also be a golden thread that run through all evaluation areas”. The toolkits suggest inspectors must look for inclusive practice when assessing other areas.

But Uttley said Ofsted “has missed the key point”, with inclusion “almost bolted on to each section”.