SCOTLAND'S schools inspectorate is under attack over plans that may see parents given less information on educational standards.

Education Scotland has refused to confirm whether three new types of inspection will include performance grades on issues such as teaching, leadership and attainment.

Labour MSP Iain Gray accused the public body of “dismantling” a system that allows school-on-school comparisons to be made.

Education Scotland is responsible for going into primaries and secondaries and assessing standards against set criteria.

The national improvement agency has faced criticism in recent weeks after it emerged that fewer inspections would be carried out this year compared to the last twelve months.

A fresh row has now broken out over whether a new inspection regime will give parents a sufficient level of detail about their children’s education.

In June, directors of education in councils were informed about a “range of new inspection models”.

Under the previous system, inspectors focused on categories such as ‘improvements in performance, ‘learners’ experiences’ and ‘meeting learning needs’.

These quality indicators were graded on a six-point scale, from ‘excellent’ at the top to ‘unsatisfactory’ at the bottom.

This single model system is to be replaced by four different types of inspection: a full report; a short inspection; a localised study; and a neighbourhood model report.

Full inspections, which have been carried out since September, continue with the six-point grades and give parents information on categories such as leadership, teaching and attainment.

However, the three additional types of inspection are still at the planning stage and it is unclear whether the report card system will be used.

The lack of clarity has prompted concern about whether parents will be left in the dark about what is going on in schools.

Asked how often each school would get a full inspection, a quango spokesperson said a “representative” sample would be examined every year, but there was no cycle of inspection whereby all schools were inspected every year.

Pressed on the criteria that would determine whether a full inspection, or one of the three other types, would be used in a school, the spokesperson added that this process was still being “developed”.

Education Scotland combines the roles of shaping the curriculum and inspecting schools, a dual remit critics have described as a conflict of interest. However, this claim has been rejected by Education Secretary John Swinney.

Gray said: “Holyrood's education committee recently discovered that fewer and fewer schools are being inspected. Undaunted, Education Scotland is now intent on dismantling the inspection methodology which allows parents to be clear about their school performances, and replace it with something which will make inspection results impossible to compare from one school to another.

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said: “It is an entirely reasonable policy to mix full inspections with more specific inspections of departments or cluster groups, but there must be no attempt to reduce the relevant information provided. That is because inspections are a crucial measurement of how well a school is performing."

An Education Scotland spokesperson said: “We have worked with the National Parent Forum Scotland and the Scottish Parent Teacher Council during our extensive review of inspections and parents have helped to shape the new full inspection model that is now being used in schools. Parents will continue to be involved in the development of the three other new inspection models.

“In addition, from next week and for the first time, the Scottish Government will publish school level data showing pupils’ progress based on the professional judgement of teachers. This data, which in future will be informed by the new national standardised assessments, will ensure that parents have even more information about how their children are doing in school.”