Ofsted, as the inspectorate for children and learners in England, routinely evaluates and reports to the Department on the work carried out by schools in eliminating unlawful racial discrimination. Ofsted inspection reports have found schools’ compliance with the specific duties has improved since the introduction of the statutory duty which came into force for schools in 2002. In 2005 Ofsted published a thematic inspection report Race Equality in Education identifying good practice in schools and Local Authorities. The report found areas of strength in promoting racial harmony and raising ethnic minority achievement in schools but weakness in effectively handling racist incidents.
We are working closely with the Commission for Racial Equality and Ofsted to support schools in taking forward the requirements of the Act.