Independent school registration (Scotland): Scottish Ministers and the Registrar
What a proprietor must do to register an independent school in Scotland under Part 5 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and the Registration of Independent Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2005, how HM Inspectors and the Scottish Ministers assess it, the annual return and change notifications, and the penalties for running an unregistered school.
If you propose to carry on an independent school in Scotland, you must apply to the Scottish Ministers to register it (section 98A of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980). The Registrar of Independent Schools keeps the public register and handles the administration from Education Scotland. The Scottish Ministers decide whether the school is registered. HM Inspectors of Education (Education Scotland) inspect it.
An independent school is a school that provides full-time education for pupils of school age (whether or not it also teaches pupils under or over that age) and that is neither a school run by an education authority nor a grant-aided school (section 135). The definition sets no minimum number of pupils. It is an offence to carry on an independent school that is not registered.
- Statutory source
- Education (Scotland) Act 1980, sections 98 to 103B (registration, conditions, complaints, removal, offences) and section 135 (definition)
- Registration regulations
- The Registration of Independent Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/571), which set out what an application and the annual return must contain
- Decision-maker
- The Scottish Ministers, through the Registrar of Independent Schools (independentschools@educationscotland.gov.scot)
- Inspector
- HM Inspectors of Education (Education Scotland); the Care Inspectorate registers boarding and residential provision
- Application fee
- The Scottish Government guidance lists no fee
- Teachers
- All teachers in independent schools must be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)
- Notifying changes
- Within one month of a change to the school's name, address, type, maximum number of pupils or proprietor details (regulation 4 of the 2005 Regulations)
- Annual return
- Sent to the Registrar in September each year (regulation 5)
- Running an unregistered school
- Offence on summary conviction, with a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale, imprisonment of up to three months, or both (section 101(1))
- Appeal
- To the sheriff principal within 28 days of notice of a refusal, a condition or an order (sections 98C, 98E and 100), or of a notice of complaint (within 28 days or any shorter period the notice sets, section 99)
What you must do to register
- Apply in writing before the school opens. The proprietor sends a written application to the Scottish Ministers with a signed statement that the information is true to the best of the proprietor's knowledge and belief. The Scottish Government asks you to download the application form and email it with your supporting documents to the Registrar. Contact the Registrar early if you are unsure what to send.
- Give the prescribed particulars. The application must include the school's name and address, a description of the property and plans of each building showing sanitary facilities and the dimensions of each room, the type of school (primary, secondary or other provision, day or boarding, additional support for learning, any church or denominational body), the maximum number of pupils you intend to have, the date the school will open, and details of the proprietor. If the school is or is run by a charity, give the charity's name and registration details.
- Send your policies. Include your curriculum, statement of aims, prospectus, admissions policy, fire risk assessment policy and procedure, health and safety risk assessment policy and procedure, and child protection policy and procedure. The child protection policy must state what criminal record checks you make on everyone working or due to work with children. The Scottish Government also asks for evidence of Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme membership appropriate to each post, evidence of each teacher's GTCS registration, governance arrangements, a staffing structure and your pupil and staff number projections.
- Prepare for inspection. HM Inspectors make a pre-registration visit, usually 2 to 3 hours, and inspect the school after registration, within nine months of opening. A maximum school roll is agreed during the inspection.
What the Scottish Ministers must be satisfied about
The Scottish Ministers can grant registration only if they are satisfied that (section 98A(3)):
- efficient and suitable instruction will be provided, having regard to the ages and sex of the pupils;
- the welfare of the pupils will be adequately safeguarded and promoted;
- the proprietor and every proposed teacher are proper persons, which they cannot be if they are disqualified, barred from regulated roles with children under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, or a person prescribed in the regulations;
- the proposed premises are suitable for use as a school; and
- the accommodation is adequate and suitable for the number, ages and sex of the pupils.
They can attach conditions when they register the school. You can appeal a refusal, or a condition, to the sheriff principal within 28 days of notice (section 98C).
After you are registered
- Annual return every September. It gives the number of pupils by year of birth, sex and whether they are day or boarding pupils; each teacher's name, date of birth and sex, whether full-time or part-time (and weekly hours), qualifications, the subjects they teach and whether they are registered with the GTCS; confirmation that criminal record checks have been obtained for anyone employed or re-employed in the previous 12 months; and confirmation that your fire risk and health and safety risk assessments were reviewed in the previous 12 months.
- Notify changes within one month. Tell the Registrar in writing within one month of a change of proprietor, school name, school location or any other change to the main registered particulars. If you plan to expand, for example from primary to secondary provision or by a large increase in roll, speak to the Registrar first, because bigger changes take longer to review.
- Boarding. If pupils board, the boarding provision is also registered with the Care Inspectorate.
If the school becomes "objectionable"
If the Scottish Ministers are satisfied that a registered school is objectionable, they serve a notice of complaint naming the ground, what must be put right and by when. The grounds include that instruction is not efficient and suitable, that pupil welfare is not adequately safeguarded, that premises or accommodation are unsuitable, that a condition is not being met, that the proprietor or a teacher is disqualified, barred from regulated roles with children or not a proper person, or that you have not given the information or notifications the regulations require (section 99). You can appeal to the sheriff principal within 28 days, or by the date the notice sets if that is sooner.
If you do not put matters right, the Scottish Ministers can order the Registrar to remove the school from the register, disqualify premises or accommodation, impose or change conditions, or disqualify the proprietor or a teacher (section 100). They can also act without a notice where they urgently need to make an order. The same penalty applies to using disqualified premises, acting as a disqualified proprietor or teaching while disqualified: a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale, imprisonment of up to three months, or both (section 101).