Martyn Oliver, chief executive of Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT), has been recommended as a replacement for current chief inspector Amanda Spielman, who will step down from the post at the end of the year.
Giving evidence to the education select committee ahead of his expected appointment, Oliver told cross-party MPs that a focus on school attendance was necessary to improve outcomes for the most disadvantaged pupils.
Asked by Conservative MP for Meon Valley Flick Drummond how he would go about improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, Oliver said: “I desperately need Ofsted to do a thematic dive into attendance.”
He cited the current heatwave as having a potential impact on attendance as pupils return to classrooms as well as closures over concerns around dangerous concrete present in some schools.
He added that the results of such a review should be presented to school leaders in a digestible way, laying out best practice.
Oliver said leaders in schools identified as maintaining high levels of attendance should be asked to produce guidance for others which include details of staffing for initiatives, job descriptions and levels of salary.
“It’s not a question of then producing an academic paper, we need practical steps written with an academic level of rigor. That’s what heads need and Ofsted can do this – they can point to the best practice that they find,” he added.
OGAT runs 41 primary, junior, secondary and alternative provision academies in the North of England.
Ten of the trust’s schools are rated “outstanding” by the inspectorate.
Oliver was knighted in 2022 in the Queen’s birthday honours list for services to education.
His call comes after the Department for Education asked 104 schools containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) to fully or partially close just days before pupils were due to return to classrooms for the autumn term.
