Ofsted

Ofsted is facing criticism after it emerged that inspection reports declaring two schools inadequate contained a number of identical sentences and phrases.

Union leaders raised concerns that inspectors were "cutting and pasting" in reports, and warned that there was a problem with formulaic guidelines that inspectors must follow for school visits.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said the practice was unacceptable, given that the fate of a school could rest on an inspection.

Two reports, one on Belvedere junior school in Bexley, south-east London, and one on Malmesbury primary school in Tower Hamlets, east London, were found to include a high number of similarities, the Times Educational Supplement reported.

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Ofsted said it stood by the judgments in the reports, but is looking into the similarities in wording.

Both contain the sentence: "Some teachers do not plan learning for pupils at their different levels of ability and marking is not leading to improvement."