Pre-inspection audits and ongoing pastoral and safeguarding advisory work, delivered in person by someone who has worked inside UK boarding schools — not around them.
A structured, in-person review of your boarding provision, run against the standards your next inspection will apply — before the inspector does.
The audit runs in three stages, each with its own report. Most schools commissioning ahead of an inspection take all three together; each stage also stands alone if that's a better fit for timing or budget — the exact scope is agreed with you before work starts.
Safeguarding policies, boarding house records, and risk assessments, checked against what actually happens day to day — not just what's written down. Benchmarked against the National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools and the framework your inspectorate will apply.
DeliverableA concise written report, indexed to the standards, with recommended actions.
Informal, age-appropriate conversations with pupils, and structured conversations with staff, that surface what a paper review can't — how a policy actually plays out in a boarding house.
DeliverableAn expanded report layering staff and pupil perspectives onto the documentation findings.
In-person walkthroughs of boarding houses, staff areas, and pupil-facing spaces — observed directly, validating the documentation and conversations against what's actually happening on site.
DeliverableA full written report with a prioritised action plan your SLT and governors can act on immediately — a clear, honest read on where you'd stand if the inspection were tomorrow.
Most schools that commission an audit come back for the work that follows it. The audit tells you where you stand; the advisory work is what moves you forward.
An honest look at how pastoral care actually functions day to day — from first-night routines for new boarders to how concerns move through your reporting lines.
Beyond compliance: how safeguarding is understood, discussed, and modelled by staff at every level, not just recorded in a policy folder.
A training plan built around your calendar and staff turnover — covering induction to boarding, safer recruitment, and ongoing DSL support.
I've spent more than twenty years in UK boarding education — as a teacher, a housemaster, a deputy head, and, from 2023 to 2026, as Executive Director of Boarding and Education at the Boarding Schools' Association, the national body supporting boarding schools across the sector.
Before that I spent ten years at Wellington College across several roles — Head of Physics, Housemaster, and Deputy Head, with responsibility first for performance and later for the whole school — followed by three years as Head of Senior School at the Stephen Perse Foundation in Cambridge. I trained as a teacher through VSO, running the science department at a school in Bamenda, Cameroon, before returning to the UK to teach at Whitgift School and Clifton College.
This consultancy draws on that whole span: what an inspection actually looks for, what a boarding house looks like from the inside, and what changes when a concern moves from a whispered conversation to a formal record.
Tell me a little about your school and what's prompting the enquiry — an upcoming inspection, a leadership change, or ongoing advisory work. I'll reply directly.
UK-wide, in person. Travel arranged around your term calendar.