Under the requirements of Section 39 of the Education Act 2005 and section 40 of the Education Act 2005, where a maintained school or pupil referral unit has been placed in the category of requiring significant improvement or in special measures, the governing body of a school, working with the local authority, are required to produce a post-inspection action plan (PIAP). In Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), the management committee takes this responsibility. In the non-maintained sector, although this is not a legal requirement, if a setting is placed in focused improvement, Estyn requires that the registered person or responsible individual produces a post-inspection action plan.

We have found that post-inspection action plans are most successful where the school/PRU/setting works closely with the local authority to create a single, unified plan that is likely to bring about the required improvements. A single plan makes explicit everyone’s roles and responsibilities in bringing about the improvements in a timely manner. The Welsh Government are updating their statutory ‘schools causing concern’ guidance’ in 2024, to this effect.

As part of The Education (School Development Plans) (Wales) Regulations 2014, governing bodies have a requirement to revisit a school’s development plan following an inspection. The post-inspection action plan (PIAP) may nest within the school or pupil referral unit’s development plan, and should form an integral part of the school or pupil referral unit’s immediate improvement priorities. However, it is unlikely that a PIAP alone will satisfy the full requirements of the regulations.

This document provides guidance on follow-up for all core inspections which take place from September 2019.

The guidance identifies the steps that inspection teams will take to help them to identify the most appropriate level of follow-up activity. It will be useful for schools to understand these procedures and the factors that inspection teams will consider when deciding on the most appropriate level of follow-up.

However, this guidance is flexible as it needs to be responsive to the wide variety of situations that occur in schools as they improve after core inspections. Estyn reserves the right to adapt the guidance to meet the needs of specific schools.