In June, RSI uncovered Ofsted ‘Prevent’ materials that link autism and extremism – what has happened since?
4th September 2025
In June 2025, following a freedom-of-information (FOI) request, RSI published training materials for Ofsted inspectors on Prevent, the UK government’s counter-extremism scheme, that depict autistic people as being more susceptible to becoming ‘extremists’ or ‘terrorists’.
Since we made these findings public, a number of developments have taken place:
- Chris Packham, TV presenter and ambassador for the National Autistic Society, is partnering on a campaign with Dr Mine Conkbayir pushing the government to withdraw these training materials and overhaul Ofsted’s approach to autistic children and Prevent. The magazine Private Eye published an article about this ongoing campaign, which also highlighted numerous academic studies that disprove a link between autism and greater susceptibility to ‘extremism’ or violence.
- A further FOI request by RSI has revealed that Ofsted has failed to conduct an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) of Ofsted’s engagement with Prevent. Such an EIA could have identified how depicting autistic children as more susceptible to becoming ‘extremists’ could result in discrimination, and prevented some of these harms. However, no such assessment has taken place.
- Lord Bradley submitted a Parliamentary Question asking the government whether it plans to revise the Ofsted guidance. In response, Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, stated that there are no plans to revise the guidance, and doubled down on Ofsted’s approach (notably, by citing research that in fact disproves a clear link between autism and ‘extremism’).
RSI is continuing to push Ofsted to withdraw these training materials, and for the government to abolish Prevent.