School regulation & compliance

Regulation and compliance for independent schools

Independent schools are subject to a complex array of legal and regulatory requirements, which impose a mixture of criminal and civil liability on schools and key personnel. The current trend is for the reduction of unnecessary red tape and the replacement of comprehensive guidance, leaving many schools unclear as to their legal obligations. We can guide you through the evolving regulatory challenges that you face and give you the confidence that you are compliant and able to demonstrate best practice.

Quick Enquiry

How can we help?

We provide specialist, pragmatic legal advice on regulatory and compliance issues facing independent schools. This ranges from advice on sector-specific regulation by the DfE, Independent Schools Inspectorate and Ofsted, to wider governance issues involving the Charity Commission, liability issues handled by the Crown Prosecution Service, the Health and Safety Executive and Local Authorities.

Crisis management

We can also help with crisis management, including representation at interviews, with the conduct of initial investigations and the submission of representations and action plans and in the defence of proceedings (if they follow).

Compliance Toolkit

We have developed a Compliance Toolkit for independent schools, harnessing the collective knowledge of our specialist education lawyers to deliver peace of mind to school leaders. 

Added value

We think ahead for schools and keep them up to date with the latest law and best practice. We also have good working relations with key people at the relevant regulatory bodies to help you stay one step ahead.

OnStream - the compliance portal for independent schools

We have developed a free compliance portal for independent schools. OnStream provides you with access to up-to-date compliance resources, e-learning, safer recruitment templates and more, in response to insight provided through our 2016 school compliance survey.

To find out more, simply sign up to OnStream.

Automate and simplify key compliance tasks

Under VWV Plus we offer a range of cost-effective solutions to help you resolve and manage your legal needs, manage compliance and implement best practice.

All of our offerings combine software with our legal knowledge and are designed to save you time and resource. Many of our VWV Plus products have been created to streamline processes in the main risk areas such as:

• eLearning to offer staff training in key compliance areas and easily manage completion online together with the functionality to easily create your own in-house learning

• Policy Tracker to enable you to share an unlimited number of key documents or policies with staff, track online that they have been read and automate reminders.

• Review for effective staff appraisals to encourage achievement of objectives aligned to your school’s development plan

Find Out About VWV Plus

For specialist advice on regulatory and compliance requirements for schools, or health & safety and regulatory matters, please contact Tabitha Cave on 0117 314 5381.