Commentary Part 1: School Inspections and Other Inspections by School Inspectors Schedule 1: Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools in England Section 9: Power of Chief Inspector to treat discretionary inspection as section 5 inspection
35.This section enables the Chief Inspector to treat an inspection conducted under his own power (section 8) or at the request of the Secretary of State (section 2(2)(b)) as though it were a section 5 inspection. This will mainly be used so that a school which is inspected, for whatever reason, under one of these other arrangements, does not have to have another inspection within the interval prescribed under section 5(1).
36.Where an inspection is deemed a section 5 inspection using this power, the section requires a written report to be made and the school to make the report available to parents in the usual way (see notes on section 6 and section 14).