About inspection and review

Published 29/03/2018.  Last updated 14/12/2022

​​​​​​Inspection and review supports improvement and provides assurance on quality and improvement in Scottish education in order to promote the highest standards of learning leading to better outcomes for all learners.

Inspection and review fulfil this by:

  • providing assurance and public accountability
  • promoting improvement
  • informing the development of educational policy and practice.

Education Scotland's status as an Executive Agency means that we operate independently and impartially whilst remaining directly accountable to Scottish Ministers for the standards of our work. This status safeguards the independence of inspection. We also have strong governance arrangements, which ensure inspection activity is independent and provides reliable and impartial evaluations of education practice and its impact on learners​.

Terms we use in the inspection process

The following table explains the words inspectors use when making judgements.

excellent means outstanding, sector-leading
very good means major strengths
good means important strengths with some areas for improvement
satisfactory means strengths just outweigh weaknesses
weak means important weaknesses
unsatisfactory means major weaknesses
 

The following words are used to describe numbers and proportions:

almost all means over 90%
most means 75% to 90%
majority means 50% to 74%
less than half means 15% to 49%
few means up to 15%
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About inspection and review

Published 29/03/2018.  Last updated 14/12/2022

​​​​​​Inspection and review supports improvement and provides assurance on quality and improvement in Scottish education in order to promote the highest standards of learning leading to better outcomes for all learners.

Inspection and review fulfil this by:

  • providing assurance and public accountability
  • promoting improvement
  • informing the development of educational policy and practice.

Education Scotland's status as an Executive Agency means that we operate independently and impartially whilst remaining directly accountable to Scottish Ministers for the standards of our work. This status safeguards the independence of inspection. We also have strong governance arrangements, which ensure inspection activity is independent and provides reliable and impartial evaluations of education practice and its impact on learners​.

Terms we use in the inspection process

The following table explains the words inspectors use when making judgements.

excellent means outstanding, sector-leading
very good means major strengths
good means important strengths with some areas for improvement
satisfactory means strengths just outweigh weaknesses
weak means important weaknesses
unsatisfactory means major weaknesses
 

The following words are used to describe numbers and proportions:

almost all means over 90%
most means 75% to 90%
majority means 50% to 74%
less than half means 15% to 49%
few means up to 15%
^ Back to top