Private-school inspectors slammed

9 November 2006

Coventry Telegraph

Sir,

May I correct a misleading PA article, Private-school inspectors slammed, which appeared in the Coventry Telegraph (7 November 2006). It refers to a recent Ofsted report which assessed the work of the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). The article implies that ISI's inspections are unreliable and this serious inaccuracy cannot be allowed to stand.

Ofsted described ISI's inspections and reports as being "of good quality" for ALL inspections they monitored, not just the 'majority'.  It is the highest rating that Ofsted can give. This judgement reflects the successful introduction of an entirely new framework of inspections from January 2006.

For the first time this year, Ofsted also reviewed ISI's own quality monitoring arrangements. They described them as clear with an emphasis on the importance of checking regulatory matters and analysing findings to identify further training needs.

The journalist has chosen to be blatantly selective with his approach and has failed to explain that any weaknesses identified were shown to be in a small minority of cases or relatively minor. Our top rating could not have been awarded otherwise.

ISI is delighted with the Ofsted's report and it is a remarkable achievement that, in the first year of a new framework for inspections, all of the inspections and reports monitored were rated of good quality.

Christine Ryan
Chief Inspector
Independent Schools Inspectorate