Editorial [BJSE June 2023]

A theme that arises in material drawn from the four countries of the UK contained in John Perry's ‘Politics Page’ in the current issue of BJSE relates to the extension of accountability and transparency measures. In the education sector, the terms ‘accountability’ an ‘transparency’ are often used to evaluate the performance of schools. However, their implementation and use have often been counterproductive to the smooth running of schools. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is the regulatory body responsible for inspecting and regulating educational institutions in the UK. Despite its aim to make schools accountable to a wide range of stake-holders, a major problem with Ofsted is its over-reliance on high-stakes testing and narrow metrics to measure school performance.