Guidance

British schools overseas: how to get accredited

How to apply for the voluntary accreditation scheme for British schools overseas (BSO) and where to get support.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 24 May 2023
• Last updated: 16 October 2024 — See all updates

Applying to become a BSO

BSO is DfE’s voluntary accreditation scheme for overseas schools.

Schools must demonstrate they meet the British schools overseas: standards for schools to get BSO accreditation. Approved inspectorates will use these standards when they inspect a school.

These standards are comparable with:

• the independent school standards

• the national minimum standards for boarding schools

They show how BSOs align with the standards used to regulate independent schools in England.

Accreditation as a BSO

To achieve BSO accreditation, a school will need to:

• arrange an inspection by an approved inspectorate
• show to the inspectorate that the school meets the BSO standards

Maintaining BSO accreditation is conditional on a school having an inspection every 3 years. This will be done by an approved inspectorate, to show that the school continues to meet the BSO standards.

Arrange an inspection

DfE approves organisations to inspect overseas schools seeking BSO accreditation and produce inspection reports. The organisations are:

• Education Development Trust
• Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI)
• Penta International

Ofsted monitors these inspectorates and reports on the quality of their inspections yearly.

Schools in Dubai should request an inspection through the Knowledge and Human Development Authority of the Government of Dubai, which works in partnership with the Education Development Trust.

Inspection fees

DfE has no role in setting fees for BSO inspections. These are set by the inspectorate.

What happens after an inspection

Inspection reports

Inspectorates publish the results of all inspections on their websites.

DfE publishes the most recent BSO inspection report of all accredited BSO schools.

School reference number

If a school meets the standards, it will be allocated a unique reference number on the national school reference system, Get Information about Schools.

Early career teachers (ECTs)

Schools without BSO accreditation cannot offer statutory induction to ECTs. The requirements are explained in the statutory induction for early career teachers guidance

Support for BSOs

The following organisations support BSOs in arranging and preparing for inspections. BSOs must be a member of one of these organisations as a requirement for providing statutory teacher induction to ECTs:

• Association of British Schools Overseas (AoBSO)
• British Schools in the Middle East (BSME)
• Council of British International Schools (COBIS)
• Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA)
• Latin American Heads Conference (LAHC)
• The National Association of British Schools in Spain (NABSS)
• Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS)

Jurisdiction

DfE has no jurisdiction over schools operating outside England.

All BSOs should have a complaints procedure in place, in compliance with BSO standard 7, which is outlined in the the British schools overseas: standards for schools. Complaints about a BSO should be made directly to the school.

Contact

Any queries should be sent to BritishSchools.OVERSEAS@education.gov.uk.

Published 24 May 2023
Last updated 16 October 2024 + show all updates

1. 16 October 2024

   'Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS)’ was added to ‘Support for BSOs’ and the accreditation process clarified.

2. 3 November 2023

   Added link to Latin American Heads Conference in 'Support for BSOs'.

3. 15 June 2023

   The guidance has been corrected to clarify that to get accredited schools need to arrange an inspection and demonstrate they meet the BSO standards.

4. 24 May 2023

   First published.