United Kingdom – EnglandSection I. External evaluation of schools• School evaluation for which central/top authorities are responsible 1. Purpose of external evaluation and responsible bodiesOfsted (115), the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, is the main body responsible for external evaluation in schools. It is a non-ministerial government department. Ofsted's inspection programme, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended), is intended to provide an assessment of how well single schools are performing, as well as promote the improvement of individual schools and the education system as a whole. It reports directly to the Secretary of State for Education and Parliament about the extent to which an acceptable standard of education is being provided at both the individual and aggregate level.In addition to its main inspection programme, Ofsted also carries out more focused subject and thematic surveys, such as good practice surveys that highlight the features of what works well to promote quality improvement. Ofsted may also coordinate inspection visits across schools operating under shared leadership arrangements (federations) or across academies (grant-aided public schools) which are part of a multi-academy trust (i.e. one of several academies run by a single trust). It may also carry out focused inspections of schools in a given local authority area. This is often the case where there are concerns about performance.2. EvaluatorsOfsted directly employs its own inspectors called Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI). However, inspections are generally carried out by teams of Additional Inspectors (AI), employed by commercial organisations, termed Inspection Service Providers (ISPs) working under contract to Ofsted, and often led by a HMI.HMI are appointed following an open application process. They must be educated to Bachelors degree level, hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or an equivalent teaching qualification, and have significant experience of working in the education sector, together with leadership and management experience. Ofsted has a comprehensive programme of induction for new HMI inspectors. It ensures inspectors are kept up to date with developments through regular training events and targeted training programmes in the run-up to the introduction of new inspection frameworks.The requirements for Additional Inspectors (AI) are set out in Qualifications, experience and standards required of additional inspectors undertaking inspections on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills (116). They will always have: a relevant degree and/or teaching qualification; a minimum of five years’ successful teaching experience; credibility and up-to-date pro-fessional knowledge and competence in the use of IT. They will normally have: a minimum of two years’ successful and substantial management experience in the relevant area; and a wide range of experience within the relevant area, for example in more than one institution. AI are trained by the contracted organisations to meet Ofsted requirements. Training is closely aligned with the training received by Her Majesty's Inspectors (HMI) and typically consists of 5-6 days of assessment and workshops, interspersed with practical experience.3. Evaluation frameworkTo evaluate schools, Ofsted uses the Framework for School Inspection (117)..Inspectors formulate a judgement on the overall effectiveness of a school based on four main categories with seven to eight criteria for each. These are: the achievement of pupils; the quality of teaching; the behaviour and safety of pupils; the quality of leadership and management. They must also consider: the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at the school; the extent to which the education provided by the school meets the needs of the range of pupils at the school, and in particular the needs of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.Judgements are made on a four-point scale: grade 1: outstanding; grade 2: good; grade 3: requires improvement; and grade 4: inadequate. Within the ‘inadequate’ category, a school may be judged as either having serious weaknesses or as requiring special measures. The School Inspection Handbook (118) contains descriptors for each grade. The framework provides the basis for all routine inspections. It can be adapted in the case of monitoring visits to schools that were considered to require improvement or to be inadequate at their previous inspection, as such visits focus on implementation of previous recommendations and on the school's use of external support to improve.
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