ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how the concept of value for money and the related criteria of efficiency and effectiveness have been interpreted and applied to schools through the Office for Standards in Education's (OFSTED) inspection framework. It addresses the kind of judgements have inspectors made about value for money and how do these relate to their assessment of efficiency and effectiveness. The chapter draws on an analysis of 66 inspection reports taken from a wide range of secondary schools inspected in the Autumn Term 1993. OFSTED's Handbook for the Inspection of Schools provided the first clear official explanation of what is involved in the efficient and effective management of resources by schools. The 1993 version of the Framework gave inspectors only brief guidance on assessing value for money, stating that it is a judgement of the quality, standards, efficiency and effectiveness of the school in relation to the level of financial resources.
