Oh Captain, my Captain: firstly, 1.8 million is 200,000 short of 2 million. (Your rounding is laissez-faire at best.) Secondly, how is that the so many pupils are in improving schools when so many teachers have left the profession and there is a huge recruitment issue? Might it be, I humbly suggest, that the OfSTED criteria has loosened quite considerably? After all the OfSTED inspection criteria has worn many different clothes within its quango lifetime.
Source:
http://risetrust.org.uk/pdfs/Review_Ofsted.pdf After Woodhead’s departure, Ofsted adopted a more collaborative approach to schools and encouraged them to evaluate their own performance.
• The coalition government elected in 2010 is simplifying and toughening inspection. Arguments continue over Ofsted’s accuracy and fairness, particularly towards schools in deprived areas, and its effectiveness in improving schools.
Need I remind you that the current chief inspector of OfSTED, Amanda Spielman, has never taught? She also believes that 18% is a suitable pass mark for this year's GCSE maths exam. (Source:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/ofsted-uncertain-about-outstanding-ratings-and-nine-other-things) Surely it is not very surprising that employers complain that the education system doesn't provide them with the skilled, adaptable, employable young adults they require.