Our approach to mental health and well-being: updates
Matthew Purves, National Director of Ofsted Academy, on Ofsted's renewed approach to mental health and well-being.
Introduction
Last year, we fully accepted the findings and recommendations of the coroner’s inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. HM Coroner made clear that we relied too heavily on custom, practice and inspectors’ professional experience to support the well-being of leaders during our inspections. We did not have explicit written guidance for inspectors to follow if they became aware of well-being concerns, so although our approach was well intended it lacked a clear process.
To address this, we’ve made changes to improve our practice. This article will explain those changes and discuss what else we plan to do.
Our vision for inspection
We want inspection to be a collaborative process in which we build positive relationships with leaders and staff. We want everyone to act with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect at all times, including when an inspection is challenging.
To help us achieve this, we’ve set 4 objectives. We want to make sure that:
- we have clear written guidance on supporting leaders’ well-being during inspections
- our inspectors can recognise signs of distress and mental health issues, and know how to respond
- we have a clear policy on pausing an inspection if leaders show signs of distress
- our inspectors are fully aware of this policy and follow it confidently to support leaders and minimise additional stress
Inspector training
At our autumn 2023 training conference for school inspectors, inspectors considered the theme of ‘doing good as you go’. They took part in a structured session looking at how best to make an inspection as positive as possible for those involved, while maintaining its integrity. This included building and developing positive relationships throughout the inspection.
In December 2023, school inspectors attended a briefing session on how to identify and respond to signs of stress. This briefing was then further developed and rolled out to all education inspectors in January 2024. These briefings let inspectors know that they should:
- request the details of the person responsible for leaders’ well-being at the start of the inspection, so they can contact them for support if required
- use the new national helpline to seek advice from senior colleagues if they have concerns about the well-being of leaders or staff
- remind and encourage leaders to have someone accompany them at different points during the inspection
The briefings also clarified who provisional inspection outcomes can be shared with and our updated policy on pausing inspections.
We also updated our inspection handbooks to:
- include explicit references to the well-being support provided by the Department for Education for headteachers
- make clear that inspectors should routinely signpost this support in the pre-inspection call
- reflect the points covered in the briefings
Working closely with Mental Health First Aid England
In January 2024, our Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, hosted a half-day training webinar for all inspectors with Mental Health First Aid England (MHFAE). This focused on mental health and our behaviours of professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect. It was followed by a half-day in-depth online training session, led by MHFAE’s expert trainers. All inspectors were required to complete this training.
The training was further built on in structured discussion sessions, carried out by regional teams. This gave inspectors the opportunity to reflect on the training and share good practice in implementing it. We used feedback from these sessions to identify further learning needs.
Inspectors also engaged in sessions on applying the training at their remit conferences in early 2024.
We have since worked closely with MHFAE to develop a bespoke training package. Completing the package is mandatory for all new inspectors. Additional training on building positive relationships and how to recognise and respond to signs of stress and anxiety is now also built into inspector inductions.
This means that every new inspector joining Ofsted understands from day one the importance of mental health and working collaboratively, and knows how to identify signs of distress in leaders. Inspectors will re-do the training as a refresher every 2 years to ensure that it is current and remains at the forefront of their minds.
Further training and development
In spring 2024, we developed the refresher training mentioned above, which is for all inspectors. It covers how we meet our equalities duties during inspection, for example by providing reasonable adjustments for leaders, staff, children and learners, and parents and carers, where appropriate.
We have also provided support and training for inspectors on how to manage their own stress and anxiety. This is so that they can manage the intensity of our work and be better able to spot and manage anxiety in themselves and others.
Through summer 2024, we sought feedback from a number of education providers that had been inspected since January 2024. This was to find out what difference the training had made. The feedback showed that inspectors took great care in supporting the well-being of leaders and staff. We turned this feedback into a briefing for all inspectors, which was made available in February 2025.
We have also continued to promote mental health first aid training. We now have over 140 qualified mental health first aiders in our workforce, an increase of over 20% since December 2023. We have also trained 2 inspectors to mental health instructor level. This means we have more expertise and oversight in producing relevant training content.
Next steps
In autumn 2025, we will train all education inspectors to prepare them to inspect under our proposed new approach. This will include training on mental health and leaders’ and staff’s well-being. It will build on previous training but will update it to fit the improved inspection framework and methodology.
We know that what we have done so far is just the beginning. To make sure that this progress is not lost, we will integrate mental health topics into all relevant ongoing training. This will support our inspectors in carrying out their work with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect, while ensuring that children, young people and learners receive the very best education and care.
For more information on our inspector training materials, visit the Ofsted Academy page.