Fewer than six per cent of Scotland’s primaries and secondaries were inspected last year, meaning thousands of children will go through their full education career without their school ever being assessed.
It was revealed this morning that just 137 of the country’s 2543 schools were inspected last year, with no plans to significantly increase that in 2015/16.
That means it would take almost two decades for inspectors to get round all of Scotland’s schools, despite the Scottish Government saying schools should be checked every six-to-seven years.
Compared to 2004/5, when nearly 500 schools were assessed, inspections have fallen by more than 70 per cent.
Today, at First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said parents needed more transparency, and more regular inspections to provide adequate updates on their local school.
She also told Nicola Sturgeon that an independent body should be created to carry out assessments, outwith the control of ministers.
This morning, former director of education Keir Bloomer said inspections are now “virtually useless as a source of information for parents”.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:
“Inspections are a vital means of providing parents with the necessary information to make decisions about their children’s schooling.
“But last year, fewer than six per cent of schools were assessed, which is a huge reduction on previous years.
“And even though the Scottish Government says schools should be inspected with some regularity, it would take 19 years for them to get round every school once at this rate.
“That’s nothing like good enough, and means parents are not getting the data and information they need.
“We want to re-establish an independent inspectorate, outwith the arms of the Scottish Government, so parents know that when their school is assessed, it is done so entirely separately from those who set policy.
“Quite simply, the Scottish Government should not be marking its own homework.
“Our plan would ensure parents have up-to-date information, school standards are high, and those schools which are coasting are forced to improve.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
Below is a table from a parliamentary question by Scottish Conservative MSP Liz Smith showing the number of inspections in recent years.
Year
Primary
Secondary
Special
Total
2002-03
191
46
21
258
2003-04
221
44
34
299
2004-05
412
53
26
491
2005-06
264
55
29
348
2006-07
244
50
26
320
2007-08
237
50
28
315
2008-09
262
55
34
351
2009-10
304
76
37
417
2010-11
223
33
29
285
2011-12
175
53
23
251
2012-13
106
31
25
162
2013-14
162
33
15
210
2014-15
96
22
19
137
2015-16
105
23
20
148
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_ChamberDesk/WA20160118.pdf
There are a total of 2543 schools in Scotland. 137 of those inspected equates to 5.4 per cent.
This morning, Keir Bloomer criticised the fall in inspections and the lack of transparency surrounding them.