Inspection without fear
Why we regulate and preparing for inspection.
Three hours on why inspection exists and how regulators think: from the enforcement pyramid to health, care and education inspection in Wales and England.
- Level
- Focus
- Learning time
- 3 hours
- Where
- Regulation and Compliance
- Price
- £69
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment
Overview and Outcomes.
Who It's For
Leaders in health, social care, education and children's services facing inspection
Overview
Inspection need not be something to fear, if leaders understand why it exists and how it works. This programme starts with why public services are regulated, the purposes of regulation and the families of oversight, then explores the theory behind regulator behaviour: the enforcement pyramid, regulatory capture, the Regulators' Code and the audit society. It maps the different landscapes in Wales and England, then examines health and social care through Mid Staffordshire, the Dash review and closed cultures, and education through Ofsted, Estyn and Leeds, reflecting with care on the death of Ruth Perry, a school leader, and on how inspection is led.
Aims
This programme aims to help leaders treat regulation as a floor and a mirror rather than a performance, developing the confidence to work constructively with inspectors and to keep quality visible to the board long before an inspection is announced.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Explain why public services are regulated and how regulators behave, using information asymmetry, the enforcement pyramid and the risk of regulatory capture.
- Compare the regulatory landscapes in Wales and England across health, social care and education, including the strengths and risks of dialogue-led and judgement-led inspection.
- Use board questions, the warning signs of closed cultures and a structured improvement cycle to test quality and turn inspection findings into lasting change.
What you'll develop
Through this Focus course, you will build the ability to:
- Explain why public services are regulated, using information asymmetry and the five purposes of regulation.
- Identify the four families of oversight and the waste-watchers, quality police and sleaze-busters that surround your own organisation.
- Explain how the enforcement pyramid works, including persuasion at the base, credible escalation and de-escalation when compliance returns.
- Identify the main regulators in Wales and England for health, social care, education, housing, audit and complaints.
- Explain the lessons of Mid Staffordshire and the Dash review for how boards should treat complaints, family voices and ratings.
- Describe how Ofsted and Estyn now report on schools and why a grade is a summary rather than the whole story.
Built from 2 parts.
3 hours of learning.
- 01Why we regulatePublic service regulation in Wales and EnglandBitesize3 modules
- 02Under inspectionCQC, CIW, Ofsted and Estyn inspectionBitesize2 modules
Keep going.
Part of the Regulation and Compliance topic, also sold whole as Standards that protect.
Go deeper, and pay only the difference
- You are hereFocus, 3 hours, £69
- The whole topicExplore, Standards that protect, 5 hours 30 minutes, £129. Already own the Focus? You pay £60.
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms
Also part of: Leading homes and communities, Ready for inspection