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Accreditation helps inform school staff and parents about how British schools overseas (BSOs) align with the standards applied to independent schools in England.

Overseas schools which have not been accredited as BSOs cannot offer statutory induction to early career teachers (ECTs). Find out more about about statutory induction.

How to get accredited

To get accredited, you need to:

• arrange an inspection by an approved inspectorate
• demonstrate to the inspectorate that your school meets the BSO standards
• have an inspection every 3 years to show that your school meets the BSO standards

British schools overseas: standards for schools lists the standards that schools must meet to be accredited as aBSO. Approved inspectorates will use these standards when they inspect your school.

The standards are comparable with the independent school standards and the national minimum standards for boarding schools used in England.

Arrange an inspection

The following organisations are approved to inspect and report onBSOs:

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

DfE approves organisations to inspect overseas schools and produce inspection reports.

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

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 overseas inspections.

Inspection reports

Inspectorates are required to publish the results of all inspections for the past 3 years on their websites.

DfE also publishes BSO inspection reports.

School reference number

If your school meets the standards, it will be allocated a unique reference number on the national school reference system, get information about schools.

Inspections affected by coronavirus (COVID-19)

DfE is contacting all schools whose inspection cycle was impacted by COVID-19. We will ask schools who have not been inspected in the last 3 years when they are scheduling their next inspection.

Send any queries to BritishSchools.OVERSEAS@education.gov.uk.

Support for BSOs

The following organisations provide help and support to BSOs in arranging and preparing for inspections:

• 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)
• The National Association of British Schools in Spain (NABSS)

Jurisdiction

DfE has no jurisdiction over schools operating outside England. Complaints about a school should be taken up directly with the school.

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