Ruth Perry: Inquest finds Ofsted inspection ‘likely contributed’ to headteacher’s death

A “rude and intimidating” Ofsted inspection contributed to a head teacher’s suicide, an inquest has found.

Heidi Connor, the Berkshire senior coroner, concluded that Ruth Perry, 53, died after she took her own life following an Ofsted inspection of Caversham Primary School in Reading.

She said that the Ofsted inspection, in November 2022, had contributed to Mrs Perry’s death and raised concerns about the conduct of the inspection and the use of a single-word judgment to describe the school as “inadequate”.

“I find very easily that Ruth’s mental health deterioration and death was likely contributed to by the Ofsted inspection,” said the coroner

Reading out a statement, surrounded by Mrs Perry’s family and friends, her sister Prof Julia Waters, said: “Today the coroner’s conclusions validate what our family has known all along, that Ruth took her own life as a direct result of the process, outcome and consequences of an Ofsted inspection of the school she led and loved.”

She said the inquest had shown the “brutal inhumanity of the system of Ofsted inspections”, adding: “I hope we can finally have time to grieve properly for our loss.”

Julia Waters, the sister of Ruth Perry, arrives at Berkshire Coroners’ Court at Reading Town Hall – Andrew Matthews/PA

Caversham Primary was downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate” following the inspection.

The coroner raised concerns about both conduct of the inspection, which she said was at times “rude and intimidating”, as well as the outcome.

The coroner said she was concerned that the Ofsted system allows a school to be graded “inadequate” when it is mostly “good” but where safeguarding issues have been identified that can be quickly corrected.

A confidentiality requirement at the time, which meant Mrs Perry believed she had to keep the findings of a draft Ofsted report secret from mental health professionals and other head teachers, as well as the length of time between the inspection and the publication of the final report, were also concerning, the coroner found.

The Ofsted inspection found the school to be “good” in every category except leadership and management, where it accused the school of poor record-keeping and failings in employment checks that could have put children at risk.

This meant the rating for the whole school was dropped to “inadequate”, meaning the school was at risk of being forced to join an academy trust and left Mrs Perry fearing she would lose her job.

The coroner said Mrs Perry did not have a relevant history of mental health problems. However, the inquest heard that her mental health deteriorated during and following the inspection.

Julia Waters speaks to members of the media in Reading Town Hall at the end of the inquest – Andrew Matthews/PA

The coroner found that parts of the Ofsted inspection were conducted in a manner that “lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity” and that this “likely had an effect on Ruth’s ability to deal fully with the inspection process”.

She said: “Parts of this inspection were, in my view, very much done ‘to’ rather than ‘with’ this school.”

The coroner said she would issue a Regulation 28 report urging Ofsted and the Department for Education to take action to prevent further deaths.

She said she was concerned about the “impact on school leader welfare” that the Ofsted system will continue to have, and warned of the “risk of future deaths if there is only lip service paid to learning from tragedies like this”.

She said: “Transparency and ease of message to parents is not currently weighed against teacher welfare. The benefits are focused on without taking account of the risks.

“The current system allows a school which is inadequate in all areas to receive the same overall label as a school which is good in all areas, but with some safeguarding issues which can be repaired by the time the report is published.”

Ruth Perry ‘led and loved’ the school, her family said

The coroner raised alarm about a lack of evidence of training for Ofsted inspectors so that they can recognise signs of teacher distress during an inspection and practical steps on what to do in such a situation.

She also warned there was no guidance for inspectors on when to pause an inspection and who can attend inspection meetings with head teachers.

Following Mrs Perry’s death, Ofsted announced changes to rules around heads keeping its inspections confidential.

The coroner said this was “not yet written policy” and that “given how long this policy has been in place, school leaders may fear discussing outcomes with colleagues outside of the school, and mental health professionals, unless this is expressly dealt with in written policy.”

Ofsted was also criticised for conducting “no learning review” of these areas after Mrs Perry’s death.

The coroner said: “Instead, Ofsted’s approach has been to make public statements in court, setting out their view on whether Ruth’s death was linked to the inspection and how it was carried out.

“They have publicly described this tragedy as a pivot, used to try and discredit what Ofsted does. This is without any attempt to analyse the evidence more carefully. There is a risk of future deaths if there is only lip service paid to learning from tragedies like this.”

Ruth Perry, right, and her sister Julia Waters in an image taken in the early 1990s – University of Reading/PA

Prof Waters said “urgent lessons” must be learned by Ofsted. Mrs Perry’s family said they “have no confidence” that Ofsted, under its current leadership and management, “is either willing or able to make the widespread root and branch reforms to its systems and culture that is urgently needed,” she said.

She said Sir Martyn Oliver, the new chief inspector of schools who is due to take over from Amanda Spielman in January, “faces a massive challenge” to put things right.

In a statement read out at Reading Town Hall, Neil Walne, a former army officer and the chairman of school governors at Caversham Primary School, said: “We continue to grieve her loss, and to struggle to come to terms with her untimely death and the circumstances surrounding it.

“For the sake of our school community and in tribute to Ruth and her legacy, we must ensure that Caversham Primary School continues to be a place where our vision of educating children to be successful, confident, responsible and caring citizens is realised. She will forever be in our hearts.”

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.