Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of Ofsted’s powers to enforce existing legislation on unregistered schools.

It is a criminal offence, under Section 96 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 to conduct an independent educational institution which is not registered with the Department. Under Section 97 of the 2008 Act, Ofsted may inspect, without notice, any establishment suspected of operating as an unregistered independent school.

Those found to be running unregistered independent schools can face prosecution. The existing powers in the Education and Skills Act 2008 have led to six successful prosecutions of those responsible for these settings since 2016. Over 130 establishments have been issued with warning notices over the same period following an inspection. Most establishments have closed or changed their operation to comply with legislation.