Research and analysis

Report on Penta International’s inspections of British schools overseas in 2024–26

Updated 14 May 2026

Letter to the Rt Hon. Bridget Phillipson MP

14 May 2026

The Rt Hon. Bridget Phillipson MP
Secretary of State for Education
Department for Education
Sanctuary Building
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT

Report on Penta International’s inspections of British schools overseas between September 2024 and April 2026

Under direction from you, Ofsted monitors the work of each of the 3 approved British schools overseas (BSO) inspectorates to evaluate the extent to which each inspectorate meets the standards for inspectorates.

I am pleased to attach my report on the work of Penta International. This report sets out the extent of our monitoring activity and any judgements we have reached. 

You commissioned us to carry out 2 on-site quality assurance visits to Penta International inspections between September 2024 and April 2026, and to review 4 full evidence bases and reports. This has given us enough evidence to reach a judgement about the quality of the inspectorate’s work. We have explained these judgements fully in the attached report. 

Yours sincerely 

Sir Martyn Oliver
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector

Letter to James Chester

14 May 2026

James Chester
Chief Inspector
Penta International

Report on Penta International’s inspections of British schools overseas between September 2024 and April 2026

Please find enclosed a copy of the report on the inspection work of Penta International between September 2024 and April 2026, which I have today sent to the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon. Bridget Phillipson MP. The report will also be published on Ofsted’s website.

I would like to offer my deepest condolences to you and everybody connected with Penta International, on the sad passing of Dr Mark Evans last year.

Thank you for the work you and your colleagues have done to facilitate Ofsted’s quality assurance work over the last academic year.

Yours sincerely 

Sir Martyn Oliver
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector

Report on the British schools overseas inspection work by Penta International between September 2024 and April 2026

Introduction

Penta International (Penta) is approved by the Department for Education (DfE) to inspect British schools overseas (BSO) against the BSO standards. BSO is a voluntary scheme established in 2010. Schools that apply to join it must evidence that they meet standards that are comparable to the English independent school standards and the national minimum standards for boarding schools. Schools must be inspected successfully at least every 3 years to maintain their accreditation. There are 3 approved inspectorates, and schools can choose which of these they want to carry out their accreditation inspection.

Each BSO inspectorate is expected to meet the DfE’s standards for inspectorates.

These standards set out the technical proficiency, independence and objectivity that the inspectorates must demonstrate at all times. In February 2025, Ofsted reported that Penta failed to meet these standards. Ofsted identified gaps in Penta’s technical proficiency and set out 5 recommendations for improvement. This report outlines the extent to which Penta has taken effective action improve the quality of its inspections since February 2025.

Penta inspection activity between September 2024 and April 2026

During the period in question, Penta carried out 78 BSO inspections. These included schools in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Ofsted’s monitoring activity

Under direction from the DfE, Ofsted monitored 2 of Penta’s inspections – one in January 2026 and another in February 2026. His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) also reviewed evidence bases and reports from 4 other inspections carried out during the 2024/25 academic year. These 6 inspections were led by the lead inspectors who had carried out the majority of Penta’s inspection work for the period in question.

Key findings 

His Majesty’s Inspectors’ judgement is that Penta continues to fail to meet the standards required of BSO inspectorates.

This monitoring work has established that Penta’s inspections of BSO schools do not meet the criteria set out by the DfE in February 2014 for BSO inspectorates.

• Ofsted’s review of the evidence bases and reports undertaken in August 2025 highlighted significant concerns about the extent to which these inspections established whether the schools met the prescribed BSO standards. Many of the concerns raised were the same or similar to those that were highlighted in the February 2025 report. These concerns related to:

  • lack of assurance provided by the inspections about the school’s safeguarding arrangements
  • lack of evidence, including the triangulation of evidence, in relation to the BSO standards
  • lack of assurance around how pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are provided for in these schools
  • how inspectors make judgements about the teaching standards and how these lead to the overall grading a school receives

• Following this, Penta introduced a new inspection framework, which it substantially revised again in January 2026. Despite these changes, significant concerns remain about the extent to which Penta’s new inspection approaches are consistently applied and embedded within routine inspection practice.

  • There has been no pilot of the new inspection framework and very little communication with schools about the changes introduced. This means there has been no opportunity to develop and refine the framework before its operational launch.
  • There has been very little training for inspectors. In the case of team inspectors, there has been no training. This leads to inconsistency across inspections and a lack of clarity among inspection teams about how to apply the new framework. There is no clear, systematic programme of training to ensure that the revised approaches are embedded in full across Penta’s inspection schedule.
  • Inspectors are confused about how to use the new inspection recording system. This leads to disparities in how teams complete evidence from inspection to inspection.
  • Quality assurance systems are not effective in identifying what improvements are needed to inspection practice.
  • Penta does not ensure that inspectors fulfil the expectations of the DfE in terms of the experience they should have.

• Penta has taken steps to try to improve the previously identified gaps in technical proficiency. Since the last period of monitoring:

  • A new inspection framework and handbook have been introduced. This sets out what should be a more rigorous approach to collecting and evaluating evidence related to the requirements of the BSO standards.
  • Supporting documents and guidance have been developed to try to ensure more consistency across inspections.
  • Since January 2026, the approach to gathering evidence about safeguarding has strengthened. The 2 inspections we monitored evaluated safeguarding with appropriate consideration and triangulation of evidence from different inspection activities.
  • An electronic system of evidence recording has improved the way lead inspectors conduct quality assurance on site. However, the way Penta uses this information at an organisational level, to challenge and support lead inspectors, remains inconsistent.
  • The 2 inspections we monitored evaluated the provision for pupils with SEND well.

• Therefore, despite the fact that the 2 inspections monitored in January and February 2026 demonstrated that many of the new inspection approaches could have a positive impact on the quality of inspection practice, Ofsted does not have the confidence that these improvements have been systematically embedded across all of Penta’s inspections.

HMI have made the following recommendations for improvement:

• Penta must develop and deliver a suitable programme of training for lead, team and quality assurance inspectors so that they are able to fulfil their responsibilities under the new framework. This should include:

  • training on the new inspection framework and how to apply it
  • ensuring that inspectors have an appropriate understanding of the supporting documents, guidance and evidence recording systems
  • developing an effective approach to quality assurance processes which operate both during an inspection and more holistically – senior inspectors at Penta should ensure that they use this information to deliver ongoing professional development to their inspection teams
• Penta should ensure that inspection teams, lead inspectors and senior inspectors have the suitable experience and expertise to carry out inspections successfully and to meet the DfE requirements.
• Penta should continue to seek expert external support to help them with their ongoing improvements to their inspections of BSO schools.