Williamson orders Ofsted probe into school sex scandal

OFSTED will question schools over their policies for protecting children as part of an emergency review prompted by allegations of ‘rape culture’.

Gavin Williamson yesterday demanded the watchdog urgently investigate both state and private schools over the next two months to see if they are doing enough to protect girls.

It could lead to Ofsted taking over inspections of top fee-paying institutions such as Highgate School and Dulwich College.

The Education Secretary took the snap decision yesterday after 11,000plus testimonies of sexual abuse and harassment were uploaded to the Everyone’s Invited website.

Many of the allegations were against boys at Britain’s top public schools. Earlier this week, it emerged Ofsted already lobbied ministers in 2018 for more power to monitor safeguarding in private schools, but was ignored.

Announcing the move, Education Secretary Mr Williamson said: ‘Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and it is vital that these allegations are dealt with properly.

‘ While the majority of schools take their safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously, I am determined to make sure the right resources and processes are in place across the education system to support any victims of abuse to come forward.’

Also announced yesterday was a dedicated NSPCC helpline, which victims of sexual abuse in schools can now call for support. It will go live today and call handlers will be able to tell victims how to report crimes to the police if they wish.

Ofsted’s review will inquire into both state and private schools to see if they have proper ‘safeguarding policies’ in place to allow victims to report abuse. The watchdog will also make recommendations about whether ‘current inspection regimes are strong enough’.

At the moment most private schools – especially the most prestigious ones – are not part of Ofsted’s remit and instead are under the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI).

However, if the review finds that the ISI has not been rigorous enough in stamping out sexual abuse, the Government may decide to have Ofsted inspect private schools too.

The review will conclude by the end of May 2021 and will seek to establish ‘where safeguarding... improvements are needed’. Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said: ‘We will set out the terms of the review shortly.’

Vanessa Ward, chief inspector of the ISI, said: ‘We are conducting an internal review into ISI’s inspection of safeguarding in schools. We look forward to sharing our findings with Ofsted as part of the wider review.’

Nazir Afzal, the former chief prosecutor for north- west

England, questioned whether Ofsted is the right body to investigate the issues because, having inspected schools for years, ‘they don’t appear to have picked this up’.

He also told BBC Breakfast the chances of getting prosecutions for many of the cases were slim and that the problem is best tackled by education.

A spokesman for Everyone’s Invited said: ‘We are encouraged to see that the Government has responded and taken initial steps to review rape culture in all schools. We are looking forward to hearing what action the Government plans to take to address rape culture in universities.’ ÷ The dedicated NSPCC helpline number is 0800 136 663.

‘Improvements are needed’