Independent school standards are regulated by law. All must provide satisfactory standards of premises, accommodation and instruction; the 'proprietor and staff must be proper persons'. They are exempt from having to teach the national curriculum, though in practice they broadly do.

There are two systems of inspection for independent schools. All ISC schools (ie HMC, GSA, SHMIS, IAPS & ISA schools) are regularly inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate and all the inspection reports are published on its website (www.isi.net). Non-ISC schools are the responsibility of Ofsted: those with a significant numbers of pupils assisted from public funds are regularly inspected and the inspection reports published on the Ofsted website (www.ofsted.gov.uk); other schools receive a brief 'registration visit' every five years (more often if the school is new or the subject of concern) but the reports are not published.

All boarding schools, whether independent or state, are subject to separate regulation by local social service departments to ensure children's welfare. Regular inspections are made and the reports (although not published) sent to the DCSF and the school inspectors − ISI or Ofsted - take them into account when inspecting and reporting.