Research and analysis

Report on Penta International’s inspections of British schools overseas in 2023/24

Updated 3 March 2025

Letter to the Rt Hon. Bridget Phillipson MP

28 February 2025

The Rt Hon. Bridget Phillipson MP
Secretary of State for Education
Department for Education
Sanctuary Building
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT

Report on Penta International’s inspections of British schools overseas in 2023/24

In February 2024, the Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Ofsted to monitor the work of each of the three approved British schools overseas (BSO) inspectorates. The DfE wanted us to evaluate the extent to which each inspectorate meets the standards for inspectorates.

I am pleased to attach my report on the work of Penta International. This report sets out the extent of our monitoring activity and any judgements we have reached. We last published a report covering all the BSO inspectorates in the 2018/19 academic year. We did not make any judgements about the quality of the inspectorates’ work at that time. This was because the DfE only commissioned us to carry out a limited amount of quality assurance work.

This year, the DfE commissioned us to carry out a broader range of monitoring activity. His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) made an on-site quality assurance visit to one BSO inspection from each inspectorate and reviewed four full evidence bases and reports. They also met representatives from each inspectorate to discuss their quality assurance and recruitment arrangements. This has given them enough evidence to reach a judgement about the quality of each inspectorate’s work. We have explained these judgements fully in the attached report.

Yours sincerely

Sir Martyn Oliver
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector

Letter to Mark Evans

28 February 2025

Mark Evans
Chief Inspector
Penta International

Report on Penta International’s inspections of British schools overseas in 2023/24

Please find enclosed a copy of the report on the inspection work of Penta International for the academic year 2023/24, which I have today sent to the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon. Bridget Phillipson MP. The report will also be published on Ofsted’s website.

Thank you for the work you and your colleagues have done to facilitate Ofsted’s quality assurance work over the last academic year.

Yours sincerely

Sir Martyn Oliver
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector

Report on the British schools overseas inspection work by Penta International for the academic year 2023/24

Introduction

Penta International (Penta) is approved by the Department for Education (DfE) to inspect British schools overseas (BSO) to see if they meet the BSO standards. BSO is a voluntary scheme established in 2010. Schools that apply to join it must evidence that they meet standards that are comparable to the English independent schools standards and the national minimum standards for boarding schools. Schools must be inspected successfully at least every 3 years to maintain their accreditation. There are 3 approved inspectorates, and schools can choose which of these they want to carry out their accreditation inspection.

Each BSO inspectorate is expected to meet the DfE’s standards for inspectorates.

These standards set out the technical proficiency, independence and objectivity that the inspectorates must demonstrate at all times. This report sets out the extent to which Penta meets these standards.

Penta inspection activity for 2023/24

In the academic year 2023/24 Penta carried out 27 BSO inspections. These included schools in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, South America and Africa.

Ofsted’s monitoring activity

Ofsted carried out one on-site monitoring visit in March 2024. His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) also reviewed evidence bases and reports from 4 other inspections carried out during the 2023/2024 academic year. These 5 inspections were led by those lead inspectors who had carried out the vast majority (21) of Penta’s inspection work for this academic year.

Key findings

His Majesty’s Inspectors’ judgement is that Penta does not meet the standards required of BSO inspectorates.

This monitoring work has established that Penta’s inspections of BSO schools do not meet the criteria set out by the DfE in February 2014 for BSO inspectorates.

• HMI have identified gaps in the inspectorate’s technical proficiency. All approved inspectorates should be able to demonstrate that they:
  • will provide inspectors with appropriate initial training and keep them up to date with educational developments and requirements in the UK
  • have strong arrangements in place for assuring the quality of their inspections and reports
• HMI have significant concerns about the extent to which these inspections have established if schools meet the prescribed standards for BSO schools. There is very little evidence in relation to some standards in each of the evidence bases. Where there is evidence, it is not clear whether the inspectors’ judgements are accurate. Penta’s approach to inspection does not include fully triangulating evidence; for example, lesson observations are not complemented by looking at pupil progress over time. Similarly, there is little to no evidence that inspectors evaluated curriculum policies or that they referred to subject schemes of work when reviewing learning in lessons.
  • Penta’s inspections provide little assurance on safeguarding. Penta inspectors do not routinely carry out basic safeguarding checks. Nor do they take every opportunity to speak to pupils, parents or staff about pupils’ safety and well-being. Where a safeguarding concern about a member of staff was brought to the attention of one lead inspector, it was not fully checked on the inspection.
  • Inspection activities do not explicitly connect to the BSO standards. Inspectors do not refer to the standards in their evidence. They do not acknowledge where they have not gathered enough evidence to confirm that specific standards have been met. Consequently, some BSO standards were missed entirely in each of the inspections sampled.
  • Many evidence forms were not completed in line with Penta’s policy. In the worst cases, very little evidence was recorded. For example, in one inspection, the lead inspector spent the whole of day one observing 17 lessons. The recorded evidence is spread over only 4 pages, in which some lessons are described in just a few words. This was not identified and addressed, which indicates that Penta’s systems for quality assurance – both by lead inspectors and the Chief Inspector – are ineffective.
  • HMI conclude that, at best, the reports from these inspections are based on a superficial assessment of a school’s performance. At worst, these reports provide misleading information to parents and to the DfE. In most cases, the published reports and grades appear overly generous and do not reflect the recorded evidence. Where concerns have been raised, for example around pupils’ behaviour, this is not included in either the commentary or the associated grade.
  • HMI met with the Chief Inspector to discuss Penta’s quality assurance arrangements. The Chief Inspector accepts that these need to improve. However, HMI’s view is that Penta requires external support to bring about rapid improvement.

HMI have made the following recommendations for improvement:

Penta must secure external expert support to undertake a systematic review of its inspections of BSO schools. This must include:

• a comprehensive review of its inspection methodology to ensure it focuses sharply on the BSO standards and effectively triangulates and brings evidence together
• systematic training of all inspectors to ensure they record their evidence professionally and with sufficient evaluative detail to support their judgements
• training of all inspectors in how to inspect safeguarding effectively and with rigour, including training on how to deal with concerns and/or disclosures where they are encountered on inspection (including in an international context)
• training of inspectors so that they understand the curriculums that are currently used in UK schools and are able to draw upon this knowledge in evaluating the progress pupils make in BSO schools
• building a programme of internal quality assurance at both inspection level and overall to ensure a consistent approach across inspections