ONE in five Scottish primary and secondary schools has not been inspected for a decade or more raising fears over standards.
New figures show 474 of Scotland’s 2,514 primaries, secondaries and special schools have not been inspected since 2008.
Three were identified as not having been inspected since 2002 - Canna Primary in the Highlands, Sandwick Junior High in Shetland and Back School in the Western Isles.
A decline in the number of inspections over the past few years has already sparked concerns.
Education Scotland, which incorporates the inspectorate, said the drop was partly down to a deliberate move to reduce the burden on schools and target those that need help the most.
Inspectors have also been used in recent years to help schools implement the Curriculum for Excellence with the number of inspections now increasing to 250 a year.
Iain Gray, education spokesman for Scottish Labour, attacked the decline, revealed in a freedom of information request by the Times Educational Supplement Scotland.
He also attacked the decision to merge the former inspectorate with a separate curriculum body to establish Education Scotland.
“This government is perfectly prepared to subject five-year-olds to high stakes tests in the name of standards, while letting the established inspection regime wither,” he said.
Liz Smith, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservative Party, said inspections were “vital”.
“It cannot be right that pupils can go through all the years of primary or all the years of secondary without their school being inspected,” she said.
A spokesman for Education Scotland said inspections were only one aspect of its scrutiny work.
He said: "Schools are inspected on a proportionate basis, using a sampling approach rather than a cyclical model.
"When selecting schools for inspection we consider a range of factors including local circumstances and the length of time since the last inspection.
He said Education Scotland was currently recruiting additional inspectors and other staff to support the planned increase in inspections.
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