The focus of this article is on the legal requirement for schools in Scotland to ensure Religious and Moral Education (RME) is taught to all children in non-denominational secondary schools. In particular, the article pays attention to the mediating role of inspection in the relationship between the legal requirement and provision in schools. The…

This article draws on research into the further education (FE) Area-Based Review (ABR) process in London, England over the period 2016-2018 to suggest that the significance of ABRs can be judged as to the extent they reinforce or challenge the historical marketised model of FE. The implications of ABR are viewed historically through the conceptual…

Scotland's HM Inspectors (HMI) of Education have published this report highlighting features of effective practice in outdoor learning. As part of Scottish Government's Education Recovery: Key Actions and Next Steps, HM Inspectors of Education committed to undertaking national thematic reviews. This national report provides the independent view of…

Currently in Scotland, around 66% of learners who enroll on full-time further education (FE) programmes and 71% of learners who enroll on full-time higher education (HE) programmes, complete their programme successfully. A further 11% of learners on full-time FE programmes and 13% of learners on full-time HE programmes complete with partial…

The new quality framework, "How good is our college?" is a tool to support and enable colleges to evaluate the quality of provision and services alongside reporting on progress in relation to outcome agreements. It is designed to be used by all college staff. Colleges will evaluate the quality of their provision and services using the 12…

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) with Education Scotland is introducing new arrangements for assuring and improving the quality of provision delivered by Scotland's colleges commencing in AY 2016-17. The arrangements have been developed by Education Scotland and SFC at the end of a four-year cycle of external arrangements for review of colleges.…

Scotland's colleges have a wide-ranging mission. They strive to meet the needs of a diverse range of stakeholders, including individual learners, local communities, regional and national bodies and the national and international economies. At an individual level, the curriculum offered in Scotland's colleges aims to enable people to develop skills…

Since its inception in 1992 Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) has inspected schools under Section 9 of the Education (Schools) Act 1992; Section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996; and Section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Pressure on England to improve its system of education has not only emerged…

This paper draws on the first, completed phase of a research project on inspection as governing in three European inspection systems. The data presented here draw attention to the rather under-researched associational activities of European inspectorates and their developing practices of policy learning and exchange, and highlight their…

This paper is an approach to the construction of a European educational space (Nóvoa & Lawn, 2002), which is due to new modes of regulation in education. The policy under consideration is the institutional evaluation of schools carried out by the Portuguese General Inspectorate of Education. The aim is to explore how concepts and policies get…

Education Scotland's publication, "External Quality Arrangements for Scotland's Colleges, Updated August 2013," specifies that HM Inspectors will produce a number of subject aspect reports over the four-year period 2012-16. This report reviews college admission policies, procedures, and the criteria used when selecting applicants for a…

Romania's education system has made impressive strides over the past two decades, with an increasing share of students mastering the basic competencies that they need for life and work. But these average improvements mask significant disparities in learning outcomes and attainment, with an increasing share of students leaving education early…

The Education Scotland publication, "External Quality Arrangements for Scotland's Colleges, Updated August 2013," specifies that Education Scotland will produce a number of subject-based aspect reports each year. These reports complement, in a subject-specific context, the generic evaluations of learning and teaching in Education…

This publication aims to capture how policies and measures relating to citizenship education have evolved over recent years in European countries. It focuses on the following areas which are integral to the provision of citizenship education: (1) Curriculum aims, approaches and organisation; (2) Student and parent participation in school…

The Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) publication, "External quality arrangements for Scotland's colleges, September 2008," specifies that HM Inspectors (HMIs) will produce a number of subject aspect reports over the four years 2008-2012. These reports complement in a subject-specific context the generic evaluations of…