Our Approach: Local government education services

We inspect education services within each local authority at least once during a six-year cycle of inspection. In addition, we will carry out regular link visits to local authorities which offers another opportunity to engage with us.  These visits are intended to support ongoing improvement within each local authority. 

Find out more detail in our inspection guidance resources below.

After each inspection, we publish our findings on our website. We no longer include summative gradings within these reports but instead focus on strengths and areas for improvement. 

Each year we publish the HMCI’s annual report. This includes a summary of our inspection findings as well as examples of effective practice and areas for development within the sector.

We also publish a range of reports and tools to support development across education settings.