Estyn is the office of Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales. It is independent of, but funded by, the National Assembly for Wales under Section 104 of the Government of Wales Act 1998. The Chief Inspector and her staff are civil servants.
The purpose of Estyn is to inspect quality and standards in education and training in Wales. Estyn is responsible for inspecting:
- nursery schools and settings that are maintained by, or receive funding from, local authorities;
- primary schools;
- secondary schools;
- special schools;
- pupil referral units;
- independent schools;
- further education;
- adult community learning;
- youth and community work training;
- local authority education services for children and young people;
- teacher education and training;
- work-based learning;
- careers companies; and
- offender learning.
Estyn also:
- provides advice on quality and standards in education and training in Wales to the Welsh Assembly Government and others; and
- makes public good practice based on inspection evidence.
Some of these statutory duties are met through work done exclusively by Estyn's own staff, at times supported by additional inspectors and peer assessors. Other work is done by independent inspectors who inspect individual schools and nursery settings under contract to Estyn.
Estyn's other duties include providing advice work in accordance with a remit specified annually by the Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning in the Welsh Assembly Government.