Independent Schools Inspectorate Report on Ardingly College, June 2024
Ardingly receives glowing inspection report and awarded a “significant strength” for boarding.
Summary of Findings
Independent schools are now visited every three years by a team of trained inspectors working for the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI). The process is robust, including surveys of pupils, parents and staff, confidential interviews with hundreds of pupils and dozens of staff, as well as open-door observations of lessons and school activities over the course of a week.
I am delighted to share the findings from the inspection of the Senior School that was carried out in May 2024. They reflect accurately the school as we know it, the positive values and behaviours of children at Ardingly and the high quality of their education. As you may be aware from media coverage, the language of school inspection reports now avoids one-word judgements such as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, and instead makes a series of evidence-based statements to describe the school provision.
Our report is populated by very positive observations about the quality of education at Ardingly, particularly relating to pastoral care and boarding which the inspectors highlighted as a ‘significant strength’. This is the highest accolade available to schools under this new regime and we understand that only a very small percentage of schools will be judged as having a ‘significant strength’. In fact, we think Ardingly may be the very first boarding school in the UK (out of over 100 already inspected under the new regime) to have been awarded a ‘significant strength’ in boarding! Congratulations to everyone involved in boarding at Ardingly for this recognition of excellence.
Please navigate this site for summaries of the main findings or you can find the full inspection report on the side menu.
Best wishes,
Ben Figgis, Head of College
