Ofsted’s war on Britain’s middle class: Education watchdog will slam schools for taking too many children from wealthier backgrounds, in controversial new ratings

Ofsted could price out schools for taking too many middle-class children as part of a radical change in assessment, it has been claimed.

Under Ofsted’s new rating system, schools will have to attract a ‘reasonable proportion’ of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special needs.

The plans are reportedly being discussed with senior Ofsted officials and have been drawn up by Professor Lee Elliot Major of the University of Exeter, an expert in social mobility.

According to the expert, there is nothing stopping the sought-after schools from admitting as many middle-class students as possible, and therefore the plans will try to ‘level the uneven playing field’.

However, Ofsted has insisted that the claims are ‘not true’ and that the focus of their inspections is on the quality of children’s education.

Speak with The TelegraphProfessor Major said: ‘What happens all too often is that the schools we penalize are the schools that serve the most challenging communities.

‘This isn’t about stupidity, this is very much about improving standards for everyone.

“When you improve learning for children with the most limited resources, you improve learning for all children.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said: ‘This story is untrue. Ofsted does not consider recordings during school inspections and we have no plans to do so in the future.

‘The focus of our inspections is the quality of education for students.’

Pupils’ attendance will also be assessed by Ofsted for the first time under new plans.

One-word reviews will be replaced by a scorecard with ten individual numbers based on ‘key areas’.

Participation will be one of these new performance assessments, as well as how well schools teach British values ​​and prepare children for the outside world.

Other important areas include the content of the school’s curriculum and the quality of education.

Labor announced in September that it would scrap Ofsted’s one-word rulings with immediate effect following the tragic death of Ruth Perry.

The headteacher took her own life after an inspection downgraded her primary school in Caversham, Reading, from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’, with a coroner concluding this had contributed to her death.

Ofsted previously awarded one of four main grades to schools it inspected: ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ and ‘inadequate’.

It comes after the announcement in last Wednesday’s autumn budget that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will scrap private schools’ VAT exemption.

The government’s economic watchdog said the move will send another 35,000 children to state education.

Posh schools such as Eton, Winchester and Charterhouse, as well as numerous smaller institutions, will lose the exemption from January.

They will also lose their business rates relief from April as Labor uses the schools to fund 6,5000 new teaching jobs in the state sector.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts that the number of students in fee-paying schools will fall by 35,000, mainly due to fewer students enrolling, rather than current students being withdrawn by struggling parents.

It said the cost of these children attending state schools was £300 million. It predicts that the VAT raid will add £1.7 billion a year to the coffers by the end of parliament.

Critics of the plan have argued that the change is coming too quickly and could force some schools to close as parents pull their children out because of higher tuition.

But supporters of the change say it is a long-overdue loophole that allows wealthy schools to avoid taxes.