ABSTRACT
The HM Inspectorate of Schools (HMI) was first established in 1839. The HMIs were not expected to act as advocates of Schools Council projects any more than government policies. The Assessment of Performance Unit began to produce reports of surveys. The Schools Council was substantially remodelled and then brought to the point of extinction. Truancy and Behavioural Problems in Some Urban Schools, issued by the Department of Education and Science (DES) in 1978, was the result of a survey promised by the Secretary of State for Education at a conference convened in June 1976. The period from 1944 until the early 1970s was generally a period of growth and expansion of the education service. The closer relationship between schools and parents and the growing importance of governing bodies may require HMI to adjust their working patterns so as to acquire more direct experience of these aspects of school life.
