Bishopstrow College is inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI).
The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is the body responsible for the inspection of schools in membership of the Associations that make up the Independent Schools Council. Like OFSTED, ISI aims to achieve excellence in attainment and safeguarding for pupils. Standardised reports on all independent schools are produced by ISI every three years. Reporting is with reference to contributory factors such as the curriculum, teaching and pastoral care.
The reports provide parents, teachers and educational organisations with standards to follow, impartial advice and a consistent and objective schema through which to measure and interpret a school’s performance. Inspections are performed with either two days’ notice, or occasionally with no notice. For this reason, the information that they provide is an accurate and representative insight into how the school in question currently operates.
The current types of inspections are the Regulatory Compliance Inspection and the Educational Quality Inspection. Each inspection takes place over a two day period and uses information drawn directly from pupil feedback, consultation with teachers and the board of governors and anyone else perceived as relevant as well as onsite observations.
Regulatory Compliance Inspections consist of a brief overview of the school’s pupils broken down according to class size, gender and age range and an outline of the school’s mission statement. Schools are expected to meet every requirement which form a set of minimum standards by which to understand a school’s performance. Each category of assessment is deemed either Met or Not Met.
ISI conducted a Focused Compliance and Educational Quality Inspection of Bishopstrow College in January 2023. The College was compliant, with all minimum standards being Met.
With regard to Educational Quality, Pupils’ Academic and Other Achievements were found to be Good with references made to excellence in academic progress and staff support. Amongst other conclusions, our pupils were noted as having highly positive attitudes, an eagerness to learn and a real willingness to participate.
As for our Pupils’ Personal Development, this was also judged to be Good with the inspectors’ findings highlighting that our pupils are resilient, independent, socially aware and mature. Their health and well-being were found to benefit hugely from their daily sports and activities and, overall, they were judged as being well prepared for the next stage of their education.
