The former head of Ofsted, Chris Woodhead, has denounced the schools inspection body as a waste of public money and an irrelevance.

Mr Woodhead, who stepped down as chief inspector of schools in 2000, said that Ofsted had become “part of the problem” in the education system.

“Ofsted is largely an irrelevance these days. The inspectors spend a few minutes within classrooms, they don’t see every teacher teach, it is an exercise driven by the analysis of the data,” he told The Economist.

Inspection reports fail to help schools understand their role and do not contribute to parents’ knowledge about a school’s performance, Mr Woodhead said. “It [Ofsted] is a waste of public money,” he added.

Mr Woodhead criticised the Government’s lack of respect for “traditional subject knowledge” and disregard for subjects such as English literature. He also accused the Conservatives of wanting to have it both ways by supporting a Swedish-style system of independent schools founded by parents’ groups and voluntary organisations while also retaining the national curriculum.

Lack of emphasis on traditional subjects has caused the curriculum to become part of the problem rather than the solution, Mr Woodhead said.

While the inspectorate should comment on how a school contributes to community cohesion, Mr Woodhead said such “distractions” stop teachers from concentrating on teaching.

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