Under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005, governors must make arrangements for their school to be inspected every five years.

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In addition, the Bishop may exercise his right to inspect any Catholic school or college within his diocese in order to evaluate the quality of Religious Education and the Catholic nature of the school. He does this under the code of canon law 806(1).

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From 2022 in the Diocese of Salford, canonical schools’ inspections are carried out by trained and licensed inspectors, the majority of whom are serving Catholic headteachers.