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Education secretary Justine Greening has confirmed that Amanda Spielman is to become the next chief inspector of Ofsted.

 

Despite initially being blocked by the education committee, Spielman’s appointment has now been approved the by Privy Council.

 

Neil Carmichael, chair of the education committee, had previously said that Spielman “lacked passion” and highlighted concerns that her experience was not broad enough.

 

Greening, however, has welcomed her appointment, saying: “I’m confident Amanda Spielman is the right person to lead Ofsted and I look forward to working with her.”

 

Former education secretary Nicky Morgan had also disagreed with the education committee’s decision to reject Amanda’s appointment, claiming that they had “misunderstood the reality of the HMCI’s role”.

 

Spielman has previously held roles in merchant banking and strategy consultancy, and is also former director of multi-academy trust Ark as well as the existing chair of Ofqual.

 

Neil Leitch, chief executive at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said that he welcomed Ms. Spielman's appointment, and highlighted the strengthened relationship the early years sector now shares with Oftsed.

 

"That's not to say, of course, that everything is perfect. There remains a number of issues around early years inspections - such as potential delays in the inspection of new providers, and continued reports of inconsistent inspections - that need to be addressed," Neil said. 

 

"But the increasingly positive relationship between Ofsted and the sector is an excellent place to start from and we look forward to building upon this with Ms. Spielman going forward."

Spielman will take over the role from Sir Michael Wilshaw when his term of appointment ends in December.