All countries wish to have a school education system which provides a rich and productive learning environment for their young people. Such aspirations are usually presented as a set of aims supplemented by sets of objectives and statements of expected attainment at various stages of education. To support and monitor the provision of education and attainment of expected standards within these aims and objectives, many countries put in place some form of external supervision often referred to as a schools inspectorate. There is thus present an interrelationship between the attainment of stated aims and standards and the supervisory system, between schools personnel directly involved with their pupils and supervisory personnel responsible for support and monitoring. The purpose of this article is both to examine this evolving relationship in the context of a number of countries and cultures, and to reflect on the extent to which supervisory systems may be in conflict with the purposes they seek to promote.