Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to alter the procedures and regulations under which the Independent Schools Inspectorate operates.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government recently consulted on regulations and advice on the approval of independent inspectorates. We intend to commence the relevant provisions of the Education and Skills Act 2008 in September 2014, and introduce the new regulations and advice under those sections. The current approval of the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) under the Education Act 2002 will cease to have effect, and as signalled in the consultation we intend to re-approve ISI under the 2008 Act. We will publish a response to the consultation shortly which will also set out the timescales for the implementation of changes.
The 2008 Act also gives a basis in statute to Ofsted's quality assurance role. This role will continue, with Ofsted carrying out monitoring activities and reporting annually to the Secretary of State on the performance of the independent inspectorates.
If, as a result of the revised agreement or for any other reason, ISI makes changes to their structure and operations, we would expect ISI to consult the schools it inspects before changes are introduced.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why independent special schools were removed from the official published league tables, and whether they will consider restoring them.
Answered by Lord Nash
Independent schools, including independent special schools, are not required to follow the national curriculum, conduct teacher assessment or enter pupils for key stage 2 national curriculum tests. They have never therefore been published in the primary school performance tables. However, they have always been included in the secondary school performance tables.