Memorandum submitted by Neil Roskilly,
Chief Executive Officer, The Independent Schools Association
The Independent Schools Association represents 300
independent schools and 70,000 pupils aged 0-18 across England
and Wales. ISA is one of the five independent headteachers' associations
that are founder members of the Independent Schools Council.
Reference to the question: Whether inspection of
all organisations, settings and services to support children's
learning and welfare is best conducted by a single inspectorate.
1. ISA would not agree that education in the
UK would be best served through one inspectorate. ISI provide
the independent sector with a form of peer inspection that builds
positively upon an intimate knowledge of the sector derived from
working within it, whilst also maintaining the highest independently-corroborated
standards.
2. In addition, one inspectorate would suggest
a coming together of the diverse legislative stands that apply
to the maintained and independent sectors, something that will
only be possible with great compromise and generalisation. For
that to be avoided under one inspectorate, inspectors would need
to specialise by sector and that would rather defeat the purpose.
3. Where benefits have been gained recently,
these have been achieved through vertical integration, ensuring
that the independent schools inspectorate covers all aspects of
inspection in the sector.
October 2010
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