Guidance

Regulating independent schools

How we regulate and intervene in independent schools, and details of when we take legal action against unregistered schools.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 19 January 2016
• Last updated: 21 August 2019 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Independent school standards guidance

Ref: DfE-00086-2019

PDF, 680 KB, 49 pages

Independent schools: regulatory and enforcement action policy statement

Ref: Ref: DfE-00087-2019

PDF, 334 KB, 22 pages

Prosecuting unregistered independent schools

PDF, 88.2 KB, 5 pages

Unregistered independent schools and out of school settings

PDF, 298 KB, 13 pages

Details

Information for independent schools including:

• independent school standards
• regulating and intervening in independent schools
• when and why we take legal action against independent schools that are not registered

An independent school, also known as a private school:

• is not funded by the government
• is not a free school or academy
• charges fees for attendance

Published 19 January 2016
Last updated 21 August 2019 + show all updates

1. 21 August 2019

   'Prosecuting unregistered independent schools’ statement updated to reflect current policy.

2. 18 June 2019

   Updated paragraph 31 of the policy statement.

3. 9 May 2019

   'Independent school standards guidance' updated to include minor corrections to the wording of paragraphs 2.13 and 3.17.

4. 30 April 2019

   Added 'Independent school standards guidance' and 'Independent schools regulatory and enforcement policy statement'.

5. 14 March 2018

   Added 'Unregistered independent schools and out of school settings' document.

6. 19 January 2016

   First published.