ABSTRACT
The majority of education systems around the world have some kind of inspection regime. The UK inspection framework contains elements of both compliance and self-evaluation. The way to neutralize the perceived threat of inspections, therefore, is to ensure that schools have robust self-evaluation procedures in place and effective improvement plans. Given the increasingly chaotic nature of the education landscape in the UK, inspections have perhaps become almost essential if standards are to be maintained. An inspection may be the only occasion that some schools are subjected to any kind of formal evaluation. The word satisfactory has long since disappeared from the inspection framework. Inspections are necessary, and if viewed in a positive light, they are a vital part of the school improvement agenda. The inspection framework itself also imposes limitations since it sets out the areas for inspection. The notion of preparing for an inspection is something of a red herring: a school should always be prepared.
