ABSTRACT
Even before the passing of the Education (Schools) Act a small group of Her Majesty's Inspectors (HMI) was beginning to prepare for a total reform in the inspection of schools. Thus it was that in Autumn, 1991, HMI began drafting a Framework for Inspection and making predictions about the numbers of inspectors needed to inspect all the schools in England over a period of four years. At an early stage of their thinking, HMI considered the possibility of a fifteen day course for the new inspectors. There would be a three stage process which would gradually introduce the trainees to the newly written Framework, with tutorial days interspersed with 'field work'. In September 1994, Office for Standards in Education's (OFSTED) put out tenders for a contract to write a new training course which would be more suitable for this different cohort of applicants. In spring 1995 the new course was piloted.
