A Practical Guide to the Independent School Standards – September 2023 Edition

While the state has extensive powers and duties in relation to state-funded education, independent schools largely sit outside that regime on condition that they meet prescribed standards. A Practical Guide to the Independent School Standards introduces the standards from a rights-based perspective and explains their role in connection with registration and inspection of independent schools. Busy practitioners are signposted to the key guidance and regulations incorporated into the deceptively short standards. The parts of education law which do and do not apply to the independent sector are clearly identified.

After outlining the standards and linking to relevant legislation and recent case law which helps with interpretation, this book shows how the standards can be applied to common issues affecting pupils such as SEND, mental health, peer-on-peer abuse, admissions and exclusions.

The closing chapters consider the role of the standards when things go wrong whether it is a parent wishing to complain about a school, a school questioning the findings of a compliance inspection and/or responding to action by the regulator.

Intended primarily for education lawyers, ‘A Practical Guide to the Independent School Standards’ will also be an invaluable accessible resource for independent schools, bursars, governors and trustees, and parents.

Now, thoroughly updated for September 2023, this Practical Guide covers the changes to statutory guidance for 2023, such as those about making ‘material changes’, Keeping Children Safe in Education, including Working Together to Improve School Attendance, the new Filtering and Monitoring Standards and Cyber Security Standards, and new case law on RSE. The recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse are explicitly woven through the text where relevant. There is an expanded section on responding to non-recent institutional abuse, plus sundry updates and additional information throughout.