1. All our residential provisions are registered with the Care Inspectorate;
2. Services that provide both care in their residences and education in their schools can be registered with the Registrar of Independent Schools as School Care Accommodation; however,
3. Some services register as residential provisions with the Care Inspectorate and separately with the Registrar as an Independent Special School.

A pre-registration visit is carried out by HM Inspectors from Education Scotland normally within 6 working weeks. Subsequently, Inspectors carry out a post-registration inspection within nine months of registration of the school to allow them to observe learning and teaching in the school and to evaluate the overall quality of education and care. Follow up visits are undertaken if necessary, and further full inspections occur approximately every 4 years. School Care Accommodation Services are inspected jointly by Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate. Evaluations of quality take account of certain Quality Indicators in HGIOS? 4 and vary from 6 (Excellent) to 1 (Unsatisfactory). Inspection reports can be accessed here.

Care Inspectors also carry out inspections of new services to ensure they abide by the law as set out in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. Subsequently Care Inspectors carry out both announced and unannounced inspections and award grades for certain ‘quality themes’ that cover the main areas of a service’s work. Care Inspectors also grade services on a six point scale similar to that of Education Scotland, and depending on the outcome can make recommendations and requirements, the latter being legally enforceable. Inspection reports can be accessed here.

The main aim of these frequent inspection regimes is to protect Scotland’s children and young people and to promote best practice.