The Scottish schools watchdog has announced plans to increase the number of schools it inspects annually by more than a third.
From April 2018, inspectors will visit 250 schools each year, compared to the 180 schools that are planned to be inspected this year, Education Scotland said.
The news comes in the wake of a Tes Scotland investigation last month revealing that some schools had not had an inspector call since 2004 and that it was not uncommon for schools to go a decade without an inspection.
Tes Scotland also recently uncovered that Education Scotland did not know which school had gone without an inspection for the longest because it had deleted historical inspection information prior to 2008.
Education Scotland said the new approach would kick in from April next year when it would set out and publish its annual programme of inspection activity.
The body said that it hoped that, between its inspections and its other work to raise standards, its staff would manage to reach all 2,390 schools in Scotland every year.
The team of 200 so-called “associate assessors” - practising principal teachers, depute head teachers or headteachers - will be extended and have more involvement. An existing teacher or practitioner will join every school inspection from April, except when very small schools are being reviewed.
The body also said it planned to introduce a programme of “young inspectors” and publish a version of the school improvement guide, How Good is our School? for young people by April.
Tes Scotland first revealed the plans to involve pupils in inspecting schools last year - including carrying out classroom observations - prompting the UK government’s behaviour tsar, Tom Bennett, to quip: “You may as well ask the class hamster what the best way to teach phonics is.”
More detail about further increases in school inspections will be included in the new Standards and Evaluation Framework published in December 2017, Education Scotland said.
The body also said that in future most of its education staff would work alongside teachers and other frontline practitioners through the regional improvement collaboratives, the six bodies being established so councils can share good practice and resources across local authority boundaries.
Karen Reid, interim chief executive of Education Scotland, said: “Increasing school inspections signals the first step in a radical new way Education Scotland will work to support and drive improvement in schools. We will strengthen our inspection function, but also work more with parents, teachers and schools to help raise standards.
“Robust inspections are a powerful tool to support improvement and ensure every young person gets the best possible education. They provide assurance about what is working well, but also evidence what improvement is needed where.”
Graeme Logan, interim chief inspector of education, said that by ensuring there was a current practitioner on every inspection team good practice could be shared more effectively. He added: “For us to achieve our national endeavour of excellence and equity, we need the new Education Scotland to be supporting teachers and driving improvement in education for all learners across Scotland.”
