Inspection Reports and Publications

Evaluation Reports and Guidelines

The Inspectorate publishes a range of reports and other publications to advise and support schools, policy makers and the wider educational community:

Download Evaluation Reports and Guidelines here

Forms of Inspection

The Inspectorate carries out different types of inspections in schools and centres for education. We are also developing new types of inspection and advisory visits to schools.

The main forms of inspection that we use at the moment are:

• Whole School Evaluations in primary and post-primary schools
• Subject inspections in post-primary schools
• Early-Years Education-focused Inspections (EYEIs) are carried out in early-years services participating in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme
• Programme evaluations in post-primary schools
• Evaluations of centres for education
• Evaluation of Action Planning for Improvement in DEIS schools
• Whole College Evaluations in colleges offering Teagasc courses
• Inspection of Schools at High Support Units, Special Care Units and Children Detention Schools
• Specialised or thematic inspections in schools and centres for education
• Inspection of probationary teachers
• Incidental (unannounced) inspections in primary and post-primary schools and in centres for education.
• Follow-Through Inspections
• Curriculum Evaluations in Primary Schools
• Evaluations of Provision for Pupils with Special Educational Needs in Primary Schools
• Inspections of Courses in Irish-language Colleges

Review of Inspections

A teacher or a board of management affected by an inspection may seek a review of the inspection using the procedures outlined in Procedures for Review of Inspections on Schools and Teachers under Section 13(9) of the Education Act (1998) (Revised 2015).

• Procedure for Review of Inspection of Schools and Teachers under Section 13(9) of the Education Act, 1998 (This procedure allows schools and individual teachers to seek reviews of inspection reports)

Finding inspection reports for an individual school or a particular subject

There are two ways of finding school inspection reports:

1. Use our Find a School application. Find your school using the search criteria. Click on the school name to see detailed information on the school, including inspection reports.
2. Use the Advanced Search function. Enter the school roll number or the school name and click the Inspection Report button. Click Search to see a list of all reports.

If you are looking for all inspection reports on a particular subject, enter the subject name and click the Inspection Report button. Click Search to see a list of all reports.

Further information is available at Using this Website.

School Forms

• Inspection Report School Response Form
• Inspection Report Factual Verification Form
• School Information Form: Primary WSE, WSE-MLL and Curriculum Evaluations
• School Information Form: Primary SEN Evaluations
• School Information Form: Primary DEIS Evaluations
• School Information Form: Post-Primary Schools