SCOTTISH schools will be given surprise inspections under plans for a radical shake-up of the way education is monitored.

Under the proposals, which will begin in the next school year, primaries and secondaries will be give as little as two days to prepare for a visit by school inspectors.

Currently, primary schools are given two weeks' warning ahead of a visit, with secondaries receiving three weeks' notice.

Inspection body Education Scotland will also introduce "neighbourhood reviews" which will look at a secondary school and its cluster of surrounding primaries and nurseries to give parents an overview of what a pupil will experience as they grow up in a particular community.

The Education Scotland review of school inspections was triggered by significant changes to education delivery in Scotland, including the introduction of Curriculum for Excellence, and societal changes such as demographic shifts and the increasing use of technology.

There have been ongoing concerns that the current notice period for inspections gives schools too long to prepare with the resulting reports not providing evidence of how schools are run throughout the rest of the year.

The period of preparation can also be very stressful for school staff and distract them from the core business of teaching pupils. There has also been concern that because inspections can be infrequent they do not provide an up-to-date picture of a school.

Alastair Delaney, director of inspection at Education Scotland, said: "Over the past few years, there have been changes to the delivery of education in Scotland with Curriculum for Excellence being implemented and an increasing focus on ensuring excellence and equity for all learners.

"It is important that our inspection approaches continue to develop in response to the changing education environment. That is why I wanted to undertake a robust review of the current system. It was vital to determine whether it was the best fit or whether there were alternative approaches that could be introduced."