Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when (a) her Department and (b) Ofsted first became aware of the practice of schools monitoring traffic to their websites to predict the timing of an upcoming Ofsted inspection.

Ofsted have been aware of the issues of schools monitoring their website traffic for possible Ofsted activity, but without firm evidence. The Department and Ofsted are currently looking at how best to respond to recent reports.

The Department would urge schools not to use such services. Schools do not need to take any extra steps to prepare for Ofsted inspections and this could cause unnecessary pressure and add to workload for staff.