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Education (Scotland) Act 2025
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This version of this provision is prospective.
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Changes to legislation:
Education (Scotland) Act 2025, Section 55 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 02 February 2026. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
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Changes and effects yet to be applied to Section 55:
- s. 55 coming into force by S.S.I. 2026/2 reg. 2(4)(5) sch. Pt. 2
Prospective
55Necessary improvements: referral to Scottish MinistersS
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
(1)This section applies where, after an inspection carried out in pursuance of section 38(2) of a public school, a grant-aided school or an education authority, the report on the inspection prepared under section 46 identifies that a relevant person requires to take action to secure improvement in—
(a)in the case of inspection of a school, a matter relating to the school or the school education provided in it,
(b)in the case of inspection of an education authority, the way the education authority exercises a function in relation to the provision of school education.
(2)The Chief Inspector must make a referral to the Scottish Ministers where it appears to the Chief Inspector that—
(a)having been given sufficient opportunity to secure improvement in the matter or exercise of the function in question, the relevant person is failing or has failed to take satisfactory action to do so, and
(b)having regard to the seriousness of the failure, an enforcement direction is justified.
(3)A referral under subsection (2) must—
(a)be in writing,
(b)specify the failure mentioned in subsection (2)(a), and
(c)include recommendations as to the action which, in the opinion of the Chief Inspector, the relevant person requires to take to remedy, or prevent the recurrence of, the failure.
(4)Where a referral is made under subsection (2), the Chief Inspector must inform the relevant person of that fact.
(5)For the purposes of this section and sections 56 and 57—
(a)“relevant person” means—
(i)in relation to the inspection of a public school or an education authority, the education authority,
(ii)in relation to the inspection of a grant-aided school, the managers of the school,
(b)any expression used in this section and in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 has the same meaning as in that Act.
Commencement Information
I1S. 55 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 66(2)
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