All children and young people should have access to a quality education, and it is important that standards are monitored carefully. HM Inspectors of Schools monitor how well schools, colleges and other providers of education are performing, with a view to raising standards and improving quality in education. They carry out inspections and publish reports on a wide range of independent and education authority educational establishments, including pre-school centres, nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.
Parents have a very important role in school inspections.
Before each inspection, the inspection team writes to all parents with children at the school, letting them know that an inspection is taking place, and that they will be gathering views about the school by issuing a questionnaire. All parents are given an opportunity to complete a questionnaire. They are also given a telephone number to contact the HMI team if they wish to do so. All feedback given by parents is considered very carefully. The inspectors speak to the School Board Chair and where relevant, the Chairperson of the Parent Teacher Association or Parents Association.