Education Act 1997

Inspections of closing schools

6 (1) Section 10 of the 1996 Act (inspections by registered inspectors) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (3) (schools to which the section applies) after “subsection (4)” there shall be inserted “or (4A)”.

(3) After subsection (4) there shall be inserted—

“(4A) This section does not apply to any school—

(a) which is a closing school (as defined by subsection (4B)), and

(b) in respect of which the Chief Inspector has decided, having regard to the date on which the closure is to take effect, that no useful purpose would be served by the school being inspected under this section.

(4B) In subsection (4A) a “closing school” means—

(a) a county, voluntary or maintained nursery school in respect of which the Secretary of State has under section 169 of the [1996 c. 56.] Education Act 1996 approved proposals by the local education authority to cease to maintain the school;

(b) a voluntary school in respect of which the governing body have given notice of their intention to discontinue the school under section 173 of that Act;

(c) a grant-maintained school in respect of which—

(i) the Secretary of State has under section 269 of that Act approved proposals for the discontinuance of the school, or

(ii) the funding authority have made a determination under that section to adopt proposals for the discontinuance of the school;

(d) a maintained or grant-maintained special school in respect of which the Secretary of State has under section 340 of that Act approved proposals for the discontinuance of the school;

(e) a city technology college or city college for the technology of the arts in respect of which notice of termination of an agreement made under section 482 of that Act has been given; or

(f) an independent school falling within subsection (3)(e) which the proprietor has decided to close.”