Requirements vary depending on the type of membership:
1. Requirements for Full Membership
a) Candidates for Membership
Our Members (Heads/Principals/School Leaders) are required:
- to be the person in day-to-day control of the school
- to hold Qualified Teacher Status (or to have sufficient relevant experience as agreed by Executive Council)
b) Inspection
All schools are required to be inspected before joining ISA. For the cost of this initial inspection please contact Anne-Marie Hodgkiss or call 01799 581694, as the costs are calculated by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) on a school-by-school basis. To cover the cost of successive inspections, schools inspected by ISI make payment to them direct on an annual basis. From 2011 this amounts to a payment of:
| Schools with 150 pupils or less | Schools with more than 150 pupils |
| £1,000 p/a No per capita payment |
£1,000 p/a A per capita payment of £4.00 per pupil |
It is usually possible to make special arrangements for a school which has had a recent and successful Ofsted section 162 inspection. Members are required to maintain their high standards by submitting their schools to inspection every three years. All members are required to send ISA any Ofsted or other public reports (excluding ISI which we receive automatically) as soon as they are published. Please note that for ex-special schools, a successful Ofsted report can enable the applicant to meet requirements for membership and ongoing inspections may also be undertaken by Ofsted rather than the ISI.
c) Accreditation and Interim List
In applying for full membership, a school will move through a number of stages:
(i) the Head will be visited by their Area Coordinator
(ii) following a successful Area Coordinator visit, the school will move onto the Interim List
(iii) the school will undergo an accreditation inspection
(iv) the ISA Membership Committee will consider the published inspection report and the Area Coordinator report, accrediting the school as appropriate
Interim List
The Association operates an Interim List as a means of helping schools to attain accredited status while allowing them to maintain contact with ISA. ISA assists these schools through the Accreditation process and welcomes the Head into Membership when that process has been successfully completed.
Heads on the Interim List are not Members of ISA and are not entitled to enter their school for any ISA competitive events or awards. However, many of the rights of membership are open to those on the Interim List and these include:
• the right to receive an advisory visit from their Area Coordinator
• the right to attend most Area meetings
• the right to attend national conferences and all professional development courses
• an entry in the annual ISA Membership Handbook
• copies of ISA newsletters
2. Requirements for Dual Members
a) Candidates for Membership
Our Members (Heads/Principals/School Leaders) are required:
- to be the person in day-to-day control of the school
- to hold Qualified Teacher Status (or to have sufficient relevant experience as agreed by Executive Council)
b) Inspection
As dual member applicants will already be affiliated to ISC there is no need for an ISI accreditation inspection.
c) Accreditation
Following receipt of the application pack, to include a copy of the school’s last inspection report, and a visit to the school by an ISA Area Coordinator, the Membership Committee considers the application. If the school meets the standards set, and shares the values of the Association, then accreditation will be approved.
3. Requirements for Overseas Affiliate Membership
a) Candidates for Membership
Our Members (Heads/Principals/School Leaders) are required:
- to be the person in day-to-day control of the school
- to hold Qualified Teacher Status (or to have sufficient relevant experience as agreed by Executive Council)
b) The school must:
-be registered/certified as a bona fide school in the country concerned and be legally constituted in that country (documentary proof is required)
-provide a curriculum taught in English and based on a British Curriculum. For secondary schools, recognised British Examination Boards should be used
-show through local inspection reports/exam results that it is performing at an acceptable level of competence (where available a copy of the latest inspection report will be required)
c) Accreditation
Following receipt of the application pack, a review of the school’s inspection report and a visit to the school by an ISA Area Coordinator, the Membership Committee considers the application. If the school meets the standards set, and shares the values of the Association, then accreditation will be approved.