Corporate report

Review of Ofsted’s statistical publications

Published 10 May 2022

Applies to England

Summary

The Code of Practice for Statistics, states that ‘Users of statistics and data should be at the centre of statistical production; their needs should be understood, their views sought and acted on, and their use of statistics supported.’

To ensure that Ofsted’s statistics continue to best meet those needs, we undertook a 10-week investigation to understand more about our production processes and how they support internal and external uses of our statistics.

We consulted with a variety of different internal and external users, including other government departments that also produce statistical publications. Based on their feedback and other research findings, we are proposing to take the following actions:

• We will continue to publish our statistics on GOV.UK but implement changes, where we can, to make them easier to find.
• We will stop producing some official statistics publications where the data is available as management information, and divert our efforts into publishing more short stories arising from the data.
• We will look at the practicality and limitations of routinely publishing data gathered through our post-inspection surveys for all remits.
• We will decommission Data View and investigate alternative interactive platforms and application programming interfaces (APIs).

Thank you to all those who participated in this review. 

Context

Each year, Ofsted publishes around 70 statistical publications. These include large-scale official/national statistics, which include commentary to tell users what the statistics mean, and management information and transparency data, which are primarily ways of putting datasets into the public domain in an orderly manner.

Our statistical publications focus mainly on judgements made during inspections, although for social care and early years we also publish information about the size and shape of the sectors we regulate and how these are changing.

We estimate that our statistics are accessed over 100,000 times per year. However, given the limitations of the data on usage, this may be an underestimate. They generate very significant value in terms of providing statistics for the public good, as they are used by a wide range of people for different purposes. Internally, the commentary for official statistics helps maintain an up-to-date understanding of what is happening in the sectors we inspect and regulate, and provides the building blocks for more complex and in-depth analysis.

In November 2021, we began a review of our suite of statistical publications. The objectives of this review were to:

• ensure that we have a coherent suite of statistical publications that tell users what they need to know in an accessible and compelling way
• minimise the burden of producing our statistical publications and maximise their impact and value
• increase understanding of users’ needs, both internal and external
• increase understanding within Ofsted of what we must do, as a government organisation and a statutory body, and what we could or should do

Project methodology

We carried out a 10-week investigation to understand more about our production processes, and internal and external users’ needs. This was so that we could make evidence-based decisions on how to improve our statistical publications and how to provide more value for the same amount of effort.

We collected feedback from various groups of users through surveys and focus groups.

Discussions with users were free-flowing, but focused on the following main questions:

• Which of our statistical publications do you use?
• How often do you use these publications?
• For what purpose do you use these publications?
• Do you read the commentary in the official statistics or mostly use the datasets?
• How easy is it to find what you need, when you need it?
• Which elements of the publications could we improve, and how?
• Is there any other data that you think we should publish more frequently?

See Annex A for a list of the users and stakeholders we consulted.

We explored in some detail the feasibility of publishing our statistics on the Department for Education’s (DfE) Explore Education Statistics site.

We reviewed the Code of Practice for Statistics and relevant legislation to be clear about what we must do, as a government organisation, and what we could or should do.

We spoke to the DfE and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) about the findings from their recent user engagements, on the assumption that users of any government statistics are likely to give similar feedback about generic issues. This enabled us to learn more about potential users and also triangulate our findings.

Research findings

Positive findings

Most users we spoke to commented favourably on many aspects of our statistical publications; for example, they said that:

• the datasets are accurate, well structured and timely
• the availability of the data is consistent and predictable
• the data facilitates their work, particularly benchmarking, target-setting, research, policymaking and informing ministers/local leaders

Some users we spoke to also commented favourably on:

• the commentary that explains the main findings
• the methodology and quality reports, which enable them to use the data for their own purposes

Almost all of the users we spoke to use the underlying provider-level data, and were very positive about the service we provide in this area. Only some users who we spoke to access the written commentary, although those who do so find it useful. Some commented that they were not the target audience for the commentary, and that colleagues in other roles may have a more informed view. For many users, their interest is not in the national findings, but in using the data for their own purposes.

Most users were satisfied with the frequency of our publications, but some felt that publishing more frequently would be useful. A few asked for a daily feed through an API or similar, a service increasingly provided by government departments.

Users helped us understand in more detail how they use our data and statistics to inform their work. This will help us to increase the value of our data and statistics in the future.

Areas for improvement

Users and producers identified the following main areas for improvement:

• how easily they can find our statistics on GOV.UK
• GOV.UK limiting our ability to be creative in the way we present statistics/data
• the commentaries were often too long
• Data View

Both external and internal users told us very clearly that they find it difficult to locate statistical publications on GOV.UK, even when they know what they are looking for. Users who do not already know about our products and publications find this even more difficult. Some feedback indicated that users had not found the most recent set of statistics, or did not know how frequently we publish statistics because they had not found them. This finding matched what the DfE found in 2018.

We looked in some detail at the advantages and disadvantages of moving away from GOV.UK and publishing our statistics on the DfE’s new Explore Education Statistics site.

We found several advantages to using the site:

• it meets all the requirements for accessibility
• the look and feel of the site are good
• users can create their own tables using the tool provided in the site
• users are familiar with platform because the DfE has used it for a few years

There were also several disadvantages:

• a shared data site may undermine the public’s perception of Ofsted as a non-ministerial public body that is at arm’s length from the DfE
• the site is called ‘Explore Education Statistics’, which does not work well for the social care aspects of our work
• it would not be a one-stop shop if it only provided some of our data; for example, the DfE only uses the site for its statistical publications, and it continues to publish transparency data on GOV.UK
• the file structures that are used are completely different from the files we currently use and we would have to make significant changes to our processes
• some users are only interested in our data files, and they upload them to their own systems; if we changed the structure of these files, our users would need to change their systems

Features that distinguish official or national statistics from management information or transparency data include the commentary and description of our methods, which explain the findings to the user and put them in context. This is a crucial part of the ‘value’ pillar in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Our statistics do not often change much, and the commentary can become repetitive. However, there is always an interesting statistical story somewhere in the data. Our research showed that there is an opportunity for us to create more capacity to find and publish these narratives, if we reduce the number of official statistics publications we produce.

The journalists we spoke to were interested in more regular commentaries when there is something interesting to share. They also identified some specific analysis that they would find helpful.

Some internal users asked us to publish additional data that Ofsted holds but does not routinely publish, including the post-inspection survey data. Some external users asked us to provide the text of inspection reports in a searchable database, although this is not a statistical issue and will not be addressed in the proposals here.

Data View is an interactive tool that enables users to interact with our data. It is relatively old and has not had any new development for around 5 years. It was built using old technology, the processes to update it are time-consuming and the tool does not meet accessibility requirements. Through our research we were able to establish that the user base for Data View is relatively small, and that most of the information taken from the site is available in other places. However, some users did note the value of an interactive system that enables them to quickly find the answer to a specific question.

Actions and next steps

Based on the wide range of feedback from producers, internal and external users and other research findings, we are proposing to take the following actions:

• We will continue to publish our statistics on GOV.UK but implement changes, where we can, to make them easier to find.
• We will stop producing some official statistics publications where the data is available as management information, and divert our efforts into publishing more short stories arising from the data
• We will look at the practicality and limitations of routinely publishing data gathered through our post-inspection survey for all remits.
• We will decommission Data View and investigate alternative interactive platforms and APIs.

Under the Code of Practice for Statistics, dropping some of our official statistics publications requires some form of public consultation. Following discussion with the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have agreed that the work described here forms part of our consultation. Contact details are provided at the end of this document for users to provide additional feedback on these proposals.

Publishing statistics on GOV.UK

Although there would be advantages to publishing on the DfE’s Explore Education Statistics site, we feel that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, and therefore we will not use it to publish our statistics.

Therefore, we plan to continue to publish our statistics on GOV.UK, and work to improve the structure and layout of the statistics landing pages and the actual statistics publications, to better meet users’ needs. There is more work to do on exactly how this will be implemented, and we envisage asking some users to give us feedback on the changes. If you are interested in being involved in this, please contact us at Inspectioninsight@ofsted.gov.uk.

Supporting the delivery of insights

To increase our focus on narratives and insights, we are proposing to introduce some short narratives to accompany our management information. These will address a particular aspect of the data and form a statistical story. To create capacity for this, we will reduce the number of official statistics publications. We will only do this where similar information is available as management information.

For state-funded schools, we are planning to introduce 3 short narratives each year. To generate the capacity for this, we will no longer publish official statistics in June each year. The data released in this publication, about inspections completed between 1 September and 31 March, will still be available in our monthly management information. Users of these statistics were advised of this change in a note included with the official statistics published on 31 March 2022.

For further education and skills, we are planning to introduce at least 2 short narratives each year. To generate capacity for this, we will no longer publish official statistics in June each year. The data released in this publication, about inspections completed between 1 September and 28 February, will still be available in our monthly management information. Users of these statistics can contact us at Inspectioninsight@ofsted.gov.uk if they have any concerns about this approach.

For children’s social care, we are planning to introduce several short narratives or research papers each year. To generate capacity for this, we will no longer publish official statistics in November each year. The data released in this publication, about inspections completed between 1 April and 31 August, will still be available in the management information publication that accompanies HM Chief Inspector’s (HMCI) Annual Report. Users of these statistics can contact us at Inspectioninsight@ofsted.gov.uk if they have any concerns about this approach. We will also offer users the opportunity to comment when we publish the children’s social care national statistics in July.

Annex B summarises the proposed changes to the frequency and timing of our official/national statistics and management information. If you have comments about these proposed changes, please contact us at Inspectioninsight@ofsted.gov.uk.

Post-inspection survey data

We established that users would like us to publish the data from our post-inspection surveys on a more regular basis. We are looking at the practicalities and limitations of doing this, for all remits, to support Ofsted’s Annual Report and Accounts in July and HMCI’s Annual Report in December.

Stopping Data View

We updated Data View for the final time in April 2022. We will make the underlying Data View data available for users, and point them towards our statistical publications as a future source of this data. Later in 2022, we will run a short study to look at options and user demand for a replacement. We will also consider the costs and benefits of an API, which is an automated way for other organisations to access our data and is widely used across government and elsewhere.

Other changes

We also identified around 15 smaller changes we can introduce to improve our suite of statistical publications. These include making our internal processes more efficient and introducing a small number of additional tables.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

In carrying out this review, we have addressed all 6 elements of our equality, diversity and inclusion statement. We have involved relevant stakeholders through our user research, and have developed a solid evidence base from which our proposals arise. Our legal team has been involved throughout.

We are proud that our statistical publications meet high standards of accessibility. We have worked hard to make any changes required so that everyone can access our publications, including those using screen readers and those who are colour-blind. Teams that produce the statistics were all represented on the discovery team and have played a significant role in developing our proposals.

Contact details

We very much welcome continued engagement with the users of our statistical products. If you have any comments about the proposals set out here, or about our existing statistical publications, please get in touch at: Inspectioninsight@ofsted.gov.uk  

Annex A

List of users and stakeholders consulted during the discovery^{[footnote 1]}

Internal

Head of Profession for Statistics
Producers of statistics publications within Ofsted’s Data and Insight (D&I) team – across all remits
Technical and systems producers of background data within D&I
Policy colleagues – across all remits
Communications and External Relations colleagues
Head of Content
Legal adviser (involved as a member of the discovery team)
Digi-comms colleagues (involved as members of the discovery team)
Director of Corporate Strategy
Deputy Director of Communications and External Relations

External

DfE policy – across all remits
Education and Skills Funding Agency
DfE statisticians
Office for National Statistics best practice team
University College London
University of Kingston
King’s College London
University of Birmingham
FFT Education DataLab
Education Endowment Foundation
Local authorities (see table below)
Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years
Press Association
Schools Week

Local authorities (LA) consulted through 2 focus groups

LA Focus group 1	LA Focus group 2
Dorset	Camden
Swindon	Hammersmith and Fulham
Essex	Croydon
Kent	Southend
Suffolk	Enfield
York	Islington
Blackburn	Wirral
Kent	Sheffield
Staffordshire	Derby
Doncaster	Achieving for Children (runs children’s services in Windsor and Maidenhead)

Annex B

Figure 1: Existing frequency and timing of official/national statistics and management information

View data in an accessible table format. 

Figure 2: Proposed frequency and timing of official/national statistics and management information

View data in an accessible table format. 

Data for figure 1: Existing frequency and timing of official/national statistics and management information

Remit	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Early years		MI				OS	MI				OS
State-funded schools	MI	MI	MI & OS	MI	MI	MI & OS	MI	MI	MI	MI	MI & OS	MI
Independent schools		MI			MI				MI		OS
Unregistered schools						MI					MI
Further education and skills	MI	MI	MI	MI	MI	MI & OS	MI	MI	MI		MI & OS	MI
Children’s social care						MI	MI & OS				OS	MI x 2
Fostering											OS
Area SEND					OS							MI
Initial teacher education					MI						OS
Parent View										MI

See figure 1

Data for figure 2: Proposed frequency and timing of official/national statistics and management information

Remit	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Early years		MI				OS	MI				OS
State-funded schools	MI	MI	MI & OS	MI	MI & commentary	MI	MI & commentary	MI	MI	MI	MI & OS	MI & commentary
Independent schools		MI			MI				MI		OS
Unregistered schools						MI					MI
Further education and skills	MI	MI & commentary	MI	MI	MI	MI & commentary	MI	MI	MI		MI & OS	MI
Children’s social care						MI	MI & OS					MI x 2
Fostering											OS
Area SEND					OS							MI
Initial teacher education					MI						OS
Parent View										MI

See figure 2

1. Some organisations that we approached did not respond and are not included here. ↩