Dame Christine Ryan, chair of the board of Ofsted, has announced she will step down next year.
The Department for Education will begin a formal process to find a successor shortly and Ryan will stay on in the interim to ensure a “smooth and orderly transition”, the watchdog said.
In a statement, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, thanked Ryan for her leadership since taking up the post in 2020.
“Christine has led the Ofsted board as chair during a period of significant challenges, including the unprecedented demands of the pandemic,” Phillipson said.
“Over the past four years, she has overseen critical initiatives, including reviews of board effectiveness, a substantial renewal of board membership, a successful transition to a new Chief Inspector, supported Ofsted’s Big Listen, the largest public consultation in its history, and conducted a comprehensive review of Ofsted’s corporate governance arrangements.”
Ofsted said until her successor was appointed, the board under Ryan’s leadership will focus on “scoping governance reforms” to implement Dame Christine Gilbert’s recent independent review.
Gilbert’s damning review found the watchdog’s response to headteacher Ruth Perry’s death appeared to be “defensive and complacent” and said Ofsted must move away “from the discourse that ‘inspectors are never wrong”.
The watchdog accepted her recommendation to review its governance framework to “strengthen the role” of the board to help reduce the “entitlement” of the chief inspector.
Today, the inspectorate said this work will “strengthen accountability and oversee Ofsted’s commitments to improved service delivery”.
“These efforts will support a newly appointed chair to take forward an ambitious, longer-term reform agenda.”
‘Much left to accomplish’
Ryan said it had been a “privilege” to chair Ofsted, but there was still “much to accomplish in the months ahead”.
“Of course, there have been challenges – from the impact of the pandemic at the outset of my tenure, to the scrutiny and changes of more recent times,” she said.
“The work Ofsted does is vital in ensuring that children and young people receive the education and care they deserve.”
She added: “As I prepare to hand over to a new chair, I will leave with pride in my association with Ofsted and deep gratitude for its dedicated staff. I wish Sir Martyn Oliver and the team the very best for the future.”
Ryan was chief inspector and chief executive of the Independent Schools Inspectorate from 2005 to 2017.
