The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the

Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

– under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect

private schools A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowme ...

in England. These schools are members of associations, which form the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 private schools in the United Kingdom. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the business interests of its ...

Role and remit

ISI is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, with a board of independent directors. As required by law, ISI is independent of the schools it inspects and accountable to the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

. In November 2020, Vanessa Ward was appointed as Chief Inspector and CEO of ISI, following endorsement by the

, on the recommendation of the ISI board. She previously led inspections in the state and independent sectors as one of Her Majesty's Inspectors for

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

. ISI inspects more than 1,200 schools, which together educate around 500,000 children each year. ISI reports to the Department for Education on the extent to which these schools meet The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, and on the quality of education provided. Most independent schools which are not members of the ISC are inspected by Ofsted. The inspectorate also conducts Educational Oversight inspections of private further education colleges and English language schools in England and Wales on behalf of the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

. These inspections provide reports on the quality of education in organisations holding a Tier 4 licence to sponsor international students under the Points Based System. ISI is one of the approved inspectorates for overseas schools teaching a British curriculum, under the UK government's voluntary British Schools Overseas accreditation scheme.

Governance

ISI has an independent board of directors, which holds the senior management team to account for the delivery and quality of inspections. ISI's board is independent from the Independent Schools Council, their associations and the schools that ISI inspects. The board is chaired by Christine Swabey and currently comprises nine directors who were appointed for their experience and skills. The board adheres to the Nolan Principles of Public Life and ISI's own Code of Conduct.

Chief Inspectors

The head of the service is known as the Chief Inspector. * 2005–2017: Christine Ryan * 2017–2021: Kate Richards. *2021–present: Vanessa Ward

Nature of an ISI inspection

ISI inspects schools regularly, with two routine inspections over each six-year inspection cycle. ISI also undertakes non-routine inspections when a school requests a material change; to follow up on previously unmet standards; or at the request of the

. ISI undertakes two different types of routine inspection: regulatory compliance only; and inspection of educational quality with focused compliance. Both inspections report against ‘the Standards’, which incorporate statutory and departmental guidance relating to safeguarding. All reports are published on the ISI website. The standards are split into eight main parts and cover all aspects of school life: # Quality of education provided # Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils # Welfare, health and safety of pupils # Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors # Premises of and accommodation at schools # Provision of information # Manner in which complaints are handled # Quality of leadership in and management of schools Where there is cause for concern the Department for Education may make an unannounced Additional Inspection, and a Monitoring Visit to report on previous findings. In 2018/19, ISI found 14.3 per cent (77 out of 537 inspections) of schools to be non-compliant with ‘the Standards’. Of the unmet standards reported by ISI to the

, 95 per cent related to standards of welfare, health and safety (which encompasses safeguarding). ISI intended to introduce a new inspection framework at the start of the inspection cycle in September 2023.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Routine inspections were suspended between March 2020 and September 2021 owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and replaced by a limited number of remote reviews. During the suspension, the Department for Education retained the right to commission Material Change Visits, Additional Inspections and Progress Monitoring Visits.

References

External links

* {{Official website
Independent Schools Council

Educational Oversight
Education in England Education regulation in the United Kingdom Private school organisations in the United Kingdom Private companies limited by guarantee of England