§ Mr. GaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on future school inspection arrangements once the current four-year cycle has been completed. [7663]
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe inspection system is achieving its intended purpose: to make schools focus on areas that require improvement and to provide information to parents on the performance of their children's schools. Over 5,000 schools have already been inspected by the Office for Standards in Education under the current four-year inspection cycle. But we are more than halfway through the first cycle for secondary schools and well into the primary cycle and now need to consider the future.
The first cycle of inspection will establish a clear baseline for all schools. That was essential, and the Government will continue to ensure that all schools are inspected regularly. But having completed this necessary universal audit, it may be less necessary to inspect every school in the same depth and frequency in the next cycle.
Having consulted Her Majesty's chief inspector, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is minded to favour a more targeted approach in the second cycle of inspections. The practical issues associated with this will need to be carefully considered. She has invited Her Majesty's chief inspector to advise her, by 31 January 1996, on a range of possible options for adjusting the timing and intensity of inspections to the needs of particular schools. In the light of his advice she will make a further announcement before Easter.