Inspectors have marked down schools that give pupils three years to study for GCSEs rather than two AlamyThe leaders of two of Britain’s biggest academy chains have accused Ofsted of favouring middle-class children with its new inspection regime. Chief executives of school chains representing a total of 61,000 pupils told The Times that they were deeply concerned that inspectors were valuing a broad curriculum over adequately preparing teenagers for their GCSEs. In particular, they object to schools being marked down for giving pupils three years to study for the exams rather than the traditional two. Sir Daniel Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, said: “It is a middle-class framework for middle-class kids.”Harris Federation and Outwood Grange specialise in taking on failing schools, with a large proportion of pupils on free school meals, and turning them around. Many of their schools…

Source: The Times January 10, 2020 17:15 UTC