Mainstream independent and grant-aided school inspections

• Arrangements for inspecting schools
• Being ready for inspection
• Briefing for headteachers
• Guidance on issuing pre-inspection questionnaires
• Briefing for parents and parent councils

Independent schools are inspected by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) in the same way as those maintained by education authorities. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) is mindful of the variety of independent schools, the legislative framework that underpins the independent sector in Scotland and the widely differing nature of provision that can be found.

The inspection framework will be applied in independent schools in parallel with maintained schools. However, as with small schools and all-through schools, HMIE will apply the inspection framework in a way that is responsive to the size, nature and particular aims and values of the independent school concerned. HMIE will also ensure that the inspection team includes the necessary experience and skills to respond to the particular educational philosophy of the school.

Arrangements for inspecting schools

Through inspection, HMI aim to promote improvement in independent schools and successful innovation that enhances learners' experiences as well as providing assurance to stakeholders. HMI focus on the quality of children and young people’s learning and outcomes and the school’s capacity to improve.

HMI evaluate how well a school is performing across a range of areas. They use quality indicators (QIs) from How good is our school? (4th edition).

HM Inspectors carry out inspections of independent schools using 2 QIs: 

• QI 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment
• QI 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion

If the school has an early learning and childcare (ELC) setting that is in partnership with the local authority, it will be included in the inspection. HMI will use the quality indicators from the quality and improvement framework for early learning and childcare. Further details on approaches to inspecting ELC settings are available. 

Being ready for inspection

Briefing the inspection team on the establishment’s view of its improvement through self-evaluation

Our inspections provide the opportunity for schools to show that they know themselves well and that they are using self-evaluation to focus on improving outcomes for all children and young people.

Before the inspection, the headteacher is asked to complete a brief self-evaluation summary form in consultation with staff and the board of governors/proprietor.

At the start of the inspection process, senior school leaders are invited to use the completed self-evaluation summary form to brief the inspection team on the impact of the approaches to improvement through self-evaluation. Senior leaders should set aside approximately 1 hour for an introductory meeting on the first day of the inspection. It is important in this discussion that senior leaders focus on the outcomes for all learners who attend the establishment. This meeting will be the start of an ongoing dialogue with the inspection team about the establishment’s performance and approaches to improvement.

This initial meeting should focus on:

• giving a clear account of the establishment’s strengths and aspects for improvement
• demonstrating where the school is improving and show how staff know
• identifying the sources of evidence which underpin staff knowledge of the school's performance and improvement, and making these available
• showing how staff prioritise areas for improvement

Improvement through self-evaluation

Senior leaders and staff may use How good is our school? (4th edition) to support self-evaluation. This document outlines the 6-point scale used to grade quality indicators. We ask that senior leaders and staff provide their own school evaluations against the 6-point scale in the self-evaluation pro-forma in the link further down this document and return the pro-forma with the pre-inspection documents prior to the start of the inspection.

Briefing for headteachers

Throughout the inspection, HMI engage senior leaders and staff in professional dialogue with the aim of supporting improvement.

The advice and support materials below have been designed to help senior leaders and staff to prepare for the inspection and to outline the kinds of activities which will take place during the inspection. It aims to answer some of the questions staff may have regarding the inspection.

Briefing note for headteachers of independent schools

A briefing note aims to help staff to understand the independent school inspection process.

If your school has an ELC provision that is in partnership with a local authority to provide funded places, then it will also be inspected as a part the inspection. Guidance on what to expect when we inspection ELC settings will be shared by the inspection administrator.

Self-evaluation summary form

An inspection begins with an introductory meeting which builds on the school's own self-evaluation. Discussion with inspection teams focuses on how self-evaluation is leading to improvement. Inspectors use the evidence the school provides in the self-evaluation summary form as a focus for these discussions.

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Partnership working with the Care Inspectorate

Sometimes HMI work with the Care Inspectorate. Care Inspectors may be a part of the inspection team for both ELC and boarding provision.

Child protection and safeguarding self-evaluation form

This form is used to record information about child protection and safeguarding. Headteachers are asked to return this with the pre-inspection documents. The Managing Inspector (MI) and/or delegated team member will discuss the information provided in this form with relevant staff during the inspection.

 

Guidance on issuing pre-inspection questionnaires

Headteacher guide for issuing pre-inspection questionnaires

An important aspect of inspection is for key stakeholders to be given the opportunity to provide their views of the setting or school. To gather the views of learners, parents, staff and partners, HMI will ask the headteacher to direct stakeholders to a pre inspection questionnaire. A sample of the questionnaires can be found below.

 

 

Within the email notifying the headteacher of the inspection, there are a number of links to online surveys which hold the pre-inspection questionnaires. The questionnaires are issued to the following groups of people. 

Learners

All learners from P4 and above should be sent the survey link. The learner pre inspection questionnaire is not required for ELC classes nor children in P1 to P3. School staff should ensure that learners have privacy to complete the questionnaires. Learners should be reassured that once they have completed the survey, no-one in the school will see their answers. All responses will be treated in confidence unless they raise issues about the safety or health and wellbeing of children or staff in the school. In such instances, inspectors will talk to the learner and pass their concern to someone who can help. 

Where required, those learners who require additional support with their learning should be helped to complete the survey, while respecting their privacy.

Parents

All parents should receive the link to the pre-inspection questionnaire. Parents may complete a pre-inspection questionnaire for each of their children attending the school being inspected. The pre-inspection questionnaire asks parents to indicate if they shall be providing 1 response only or if they are providing 1 response for each of their children who attend the school.

As part of the inspection, members of the inspection team will meet with a range of stakeholders. Parents are asked within the pre-inspection questionnaire to indicate whether they would like to meet with a member of the inspection team and, if so, to provide their contact details. The inspection administrator will contact a random sample of those who have indicated they would like to meet with a member of the team to invite them to the meeting.

Staff

All staff should receive the link the to the pre-inspection questionnaire. HMIE have created pre-inspection questionnaires for the following broad groupings. A survey link will be provided for each of the following staffing groups:

• school support staff
• teachers
• pupil support staff
• all staff practitioners in ELC settings (if applicable)

Partners

HMIE define partners within How good is our school? (4th edition) and the quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors to include all individuals or organisations that deliver learning and contribute to the life and work of the school. This may include:

• community learning and development services
• colleges
• universities
• employers
• third sector
• community organisations
• libraries 

All those who work in partnership with the school and/or nursery class should be sent the link to the pre-inspection questionnaire.

Distributing the links

Headteachers should use their established methods of communication to inform these stakeholders of the inspection, the information that is available from our website and the appropriate link to the pre-inspection questionnaire. When sharing the links, it is important to include the date which all responses must be completed by. We usually refer to this as the date the survey will close.

Methods for sharing the links include: 

• using internal email for staff
• adding the links to the school website (remember to remove when the survey has closed) for parents and partners including the information within a group call or newsletters for parents, staff and partners
• connecting with learners through Glow

Headteachers are best placed to know the most effective ways of communicating and engaging with their stakeholders to ensure that as many as possible have the opportunity to provide their views about the school. HMI have found that some schools have, in addition to sending the links digitally, provided opportunities to parents to use the school’s devices to complete the pre-inspection questionnaires. For example, some schools invite parents to use the library and ICT suite facilities and others invite parents to complete the pre-inspection questionnaire during a parents’ school event. 

HMI recognise that schools will want to encourage as many of their stakeholders as possible to complete the pre-inspection questionnaire. To support this, the inspection administrator can provide headteachers with a regular update on responses rates. Where, for example, the response levels are lower for a particular stakeholder group, headteachers can then send another communication which reminds and encourages more responses.

What HMIE does with the information gathered

HMI use an online survey tool, provided by Formic, which holds pre-inspection questionnaires and responses. 

Formic follows some of the principles of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Assistance may be required for those who use screen readers or keyboard-only controls.

If stakeholders wish to increase font size to help them complete the survey, it is best to use the browser controls. For example, Internet Explorer offers options to increase text size via the view menu.

It is important that HMIE protect the information gathered through the pre inspection questionnaires and that stakeholders understand how HMIE will do this.

HMIE will protect questionnaire responses in the following ways:

• Individual responses will not be identified when the information is used for statistical purposes.
• Headteachers will receive a summary of the responses only where at least ten people have responded.
• Individual views remain confidential, unless they raise specific issues, for example in relation to child protection. In these circumstances, comments would be shared with headteachers and appropriate agencies.
• HMIE will then store responses confidentially on secure servers for a period of five years.
• Personal information will not be shared with any other third-party organisation and will only be used for the purpose it was obtained in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. HMIE are also subject to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Further information on privacy is available on our website.
• Summarised Inspection Findings and the analysis of the pre-inspection questionnaire responses are also published on the HMIE website.

Briefings for parents and Parent Councils

​Support and advice for chairs of the Parent Council

Gathering the views of parents is important to us during the inspection of a school (the term 'parents' should be taken to include foster carers, residential care staff and carers who are relatives or friends). HMI consider these views carefully as part of the evidence during the inspection. We want to know what the chairperson of the Parent Council thinks about the school and how it is doing. A member of the inspection team will arrange to meet with the chairperson of the Parent Council, as well as other parents, during the inspection. 

This briefing note aims to help the chair of the Parent Council understand the inspection process of an independent school.

Briefing for parents

This section aims to help parents to understand the inspection of an independent school.

What happens in the inspection of your child’s secondary school?

HMI may visit your child’s school to find out how well your child is being educated and looked after. HMI will take account of the type and nature of the school and its learners’ needs. The inspection will be carried out by a team which may comprise of HMI, Associate Assessors (AA), Assistant Inspectors and a lay member (LM) working for HMIE. The letter published following the inspection will highlight what the school does well and where it needs to improve.

Before the inspection

You will receive a pre-inspection questionnaire so that we can find out what you think about the school. Staff, partners, children and young people will also be invited to complete a questionnaire.

All responses will be treated in confidence unless they raise concerns about the wellbeing of children, young people or staff in the school.

Information given to us will be seen only by the inspection team. We will not tell anyone else where our information came from unless the wellbeing of a person is considered to be at risk.

During the inspection

HMI visit classrooms, observe learning, and talk to staff and children and young people about their learning.

They may spend some time looking at your child’s work and reading their reports.

They may work with your child as part of a small group or in a classroom.

After the inspection

At the end of the inspection or review, HMI will share the findings with the school and agree any follow up activity.

The inspection team will publish a letter for parents on the HMIE website.

Summarised Inspection Findings and the analysis of the pre-inspection questionnaire responses are also published on the HMIE website.

Where HMI have confidence in the work of the school and are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve, no more visits are made in connection with the inspection.

In some cases, HMI will carry out a further inspection to support staff in making improvements.