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 in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the C ...

– under section 106 of the

Education and Skills Act 2008 The Education and Skills Act 2008 (c 25) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that raised the minimum age at which a person can leave education or training from 16 to 18 for those born after 1 September 1997, with an interim minimum ...

– to inspect

independent schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

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 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busin ...

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 department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

. 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 government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

. 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. 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 The Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government, established by John Major in 1994 to advise the Prime Minister on ethical standards of public life. It promotes a code o ...

and ISI's own Code of Conduct.

Chief Inspectors

The head of the service is known as the Chief Inspector. * 2005–2017:

Christine Ryan Dame Christine Ryan, is a British teacher and public servant. Since August 2020, she has been Chair of the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted). Having worked as a teacher between 1976 and 1993, she was then ...

* 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). Inspection Framework 2023 ISI is planning to introduce a new inspection framework at the start of the next inspection cycle in September 2023. The inspectorate is currentl
consulting
on its proposals until 16 September 2022.

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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, 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 Private and independent school organisations in the United Kingdom Private companies limited by guarantee of England