How Irlam Primary School used Intelligent Evidence to streamline self-evaluation, save valuable time, and began to build trust-wide consistency across The LINK Education Trust.
About the school
Irlam Primary School is a primary school located in Irlam, Greater Manchester. The headteacher, Elaine Darwin, leads a supportive and caring school, which achieved a Good rating from Ofsted in December 2022. As they became an academy in 2024, they are due for an inspection with the 2025 framework soon.
The challenge
Before adopting Intelligent Evidence, Irlam Primary School had difficulty gathering evidence, with Elaine and the SLT having to read through lengthy reports and search through pages to find the information they needed and map them to Ofsted’s grade descriptors. It was hard for them to spot where the gaps were, which made self-evaluation difficult.
The solution
After being brought up at The LINK Education Trust’s Heads meeting, they made the decision to trial Intelligent Evidence in the majority of their schools to support the self-evaluation process across the MAT. With The LINK Education Trust due for inspection in 2026, Ofsted readiness was also a key factor in the decision to implement Intelligent Evidence across the trust.
Elaine reported, “It’s user-friendly – you don’t need to be a tech expert. We were up and running the very same morning!”
The results
Built a solid evidence base quickly
As soon as Elaine was set up with the system, she uploaded three documents to see how Intelligent Evidence’s AI driven platform would make suggestions matching her evidence to the Ofsted Grade descriptors.
“Collecting evidence used to be painstaking. I was that person who filed everything in labelled folders just to tick it off, but it used to take me hours per week. By using Intelligent Evidence, I had a solid evidence base within 10 minutes of uploading a few key documents.”
Elaine Darwin, Headteacher
Irlam Primary School
Self-evaluation made easy
Searching for information from different sources and re-reading reports in order to get the information they needed, the school’s “traditional” self-evaluation process took a considerable amount of time for Elaine and the SLT. Since using Intelligent Evidence, information is now organised and accessible across the team, allowing them to see exactly where the gaps are.
“Intelligent Evidence clearly highlights our strengths and gaps under each Ofsted heading, so we can focus our efforts where they’re most needed – improving our school.”
Elaine Darwin, Headteacher
Irlam Primary School
Consistency across the MAT
As schools within The LINK Education Trust develop their use of Intelligent Evidence, they are building a standardised way of presenting their evidence despite each school continuing to use individual methods for self evaluation. Intelligent Evidence creates a single point of truth for the trust, making it easier for the whole trust to see where their schools are doing well, and where they may need support.
“Using Intelligent Evidence brings greater consistency across the Trust. As more schools continue using the platform over time, the collective evidence base across the MAT will become even stronger.”
Elaine Darwin, Headteacher
Irlam Primary School
“This platform can make inspection readiness a by-product of daily leadership, not a scramble every few years. It’s not just helpful – it’s transformational.”
Chris Moore, CEO
The Link Education Trust
Saved valuable time across the SLT
Elaine and the team can now simply upload their documents to Intelligent Evidence and instantly map them across the new framework. They have reduced their workload significantly and given themselves time back to focus on what’s really needed – working with children and families. The team now regularly reviews their evidence base on Intelligent Evidence to see what’s missing and add more documentation to fill any gaps.
Elaine was clear about one of the main benefits of using Intelligent Evidence: “It saves valuable time – something every headteacher needs more of!”
“Intelligent Evidence is an invaluable tool for busy school leaders. With Ofsted inspections on the horizon, it’s a fast and effective way to organise your existing evidence under Ofsted headings. You can instantly see your strengths and identify any gaps. It’s straightforward, efficient, and genuinely brilliant.”
“I’ll certainly feel more confident and prepared going into inspection. Inspectors will find it difficult to argue when the evidence is clearly identified and accessible in various documents.”
Elaine Darwin, Headteacher
Irlam Primary School
