Ofsted’s attempts to improve its inspection reforms have fallen flat with teachers as polling reveals the sector feels much the same as when the plans were revealed.

Almost 10,000 teachers have given their verdict on Ofsted’s finalised reforms, unveiled last week, via polling by Teacher Tapp.

Of those who had seen the plans, just 11 per cent felt positive, up one percentage point from February when Ofsted first revealed its plans.

Meanwhile, 31 per cent felt “somewhat negative” and 22 per cent “very negative” – a slight improvement from 32 per cent and 25 per cent in February.

The majority (37 per cent) felt “neutral”, up three percentage points from February.

Teacher Tapp said the results were “almost identical” to earlier replies, suggesting “the months Ofsted spent tinkering around were somewhat wasted on teachers”.

Teachers were also asked if they felt new-style inspections “will be more fair, clear or accurate”.

Most (66 per cent) felt the five-tier rating system would make “no difference” to providing a clearer picture of schools.

Sixty-nine per cent thought it would make “no difference” to providing a fairer picture of schools, and 71 per cent thought it would make “no difference” in providing a more accurate picture.

‘Missed opportunity’

Teacher Tapp, which also received almost 1,500 written responses, said the verdict was “resoundingly clear: most believe this is a missed opportunity”.

Far from believing the reforms would reduce pressure on school staff, teachers feared they would “add hugely to workload and stress” and make inspections “even more onerous”.

Teacher Tapp said the most common reaction “was that the new framework feels like little more than a cosmetic makeover”.

One described it as “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”.

The findings come after a snap poll last week showed teachers felt far less positive about the decision to remove single-word headline grades than they did this time last year.

More than 6,500 people responded to Ofsted’s consultation, including about 4,800 education professionals.

But the inspectorate has refused to provide a quantitative breakdown of their responses, instead giving only a narrative summary.

Ofsted is also continuing to pilot inspections  in 96 schools before they start to be rolled out in November.

Schools Week asked if results of these pilots would be published, but Ofsted did not respond.