Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has said she would have “probably punched” rude Ofsted staff after hearing about a school’s inspection experience. 

The cabinet minister told an audience of educational leaders that she was “shocked” by how the watchdog treated a “fantastic” school she recently visited.

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She said: “They told me how their Ofsted experience had gone and I was shocked. I was actually shocked.

“I thought: ‘God if I had met these people, I would have probably punched them’. They were really rude.”

Ms Keegan added: “I mean you expect people to be rude to you when you’re a politician, you kind of sign up for that.

“But when you are trying to run a school and educate children and change lives, you don’t expect somebody to come in and not be respectful.”

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The comments were criticised by UNISON head of education Mike Short.

“Clearly there’s much that can and should be improved in the way Ofsted inspections are carried out,” the senior union figure said.

“But to suggest punching people is an appropriate reaction is not becoming of a government minister.

“Making light of violence in schools when staff are increasingly likely to face assaults while doing their job is in very poor taste. Ofsted inspectors are already dealing with a great deal of hostility while they work. So much for showing respect.”

This is not the first time Ms Keegan has come under fire for her choice of language.

Last year she was forced to apologise after she was caught complaining about not being thanked for doing a “f****** good job” over the unsafe concrete crisis in schools.

She faced further criticism for saying school chiefs who had not responded to a survey about unsafe buildings should “get off their backsides”.

Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson said: “A Secretary of State talking about assaulting someone should be shocking, but for Gillian Keegan it’s just another day at the microphone.

“Gillian Keegan has form and this is the latest gaff from a minister who has a potty mouth, an obviously quick temper and still thinks she is doing a [insert expletive] good job. Hardly the qualities we should be instilling in our children.”

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Ms Keegan’s latest gaffe came as Ofsted launched its “Big Listen” public consultation into its future direction.

The watchdog has come under greater scrutiny in the past year after headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life.

The mother-of-two’s death followed an Ofsted report which downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.

In December, a coroner concluded the inspection, in November 2022, “likely contributed” to her death.

Ms Keegan, speaking during a Q&A at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) annual conference in Liverpool, said the culture of inspection was the “biggest thing” that needed to change.

Responding to her remarks about punching Ofsted staff, Sir Martyn Oliver, the new chief inspector of Ofsted, told the media: “I think people should act with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect on both sides.”

He said he believed the incident Ms Keegan was referring to likely took place under a “previous period”.

“I’m much more interested in a fresh start and calming down tensions. That’s in far better interests for the children and the professionals in the country going forward.”

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A report by the Education Select Committee in January called on the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted “to develop an alternative” to the single-word judgments used to rate schools.

Meanwhile, Mrs Perry’s sister, Professor Julia Waters, said Ofsted needed to make a “big change” or its consultation would be a “big waste of time”.

Sir Martyn said “nothing is off the table” and he is “determined to do everything that I can to prevent such tragedies happening in the future”.

Addressing the aftermath of Mrs Perry’s death, Ms Keegan said: “I was struck that actually the biggest thing that we needed to change was the culture. It was the culture and the culture of inspection and that mutual respect that I talked about.”

She added: “Because if you have that culture of respect, then you do listen automatically.”

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