This role sits in the Unregistered Schools Team (UST), which investigates settings operating as schools without registration across England. It is a criminal offence to run an unregistered school, and the children attending these settings are often unsafe and receiving a poor quality of education because there is no external oversight. The team works closely with the DfE, CPS, local authorities, police and other agencies to take action against illegal settings and to protect the children attending them.
As an unregistered schools investigator (USI), you will report to the Unregistered Schools Specialist Inspector with responsibility for line management of the USIs, working with a small team of inspectors, legal and policy staff to help identify, investigate and prosecute unregistered schools. As a USI, you will play a leading role in the investigation of possible illegal schools, identifying new settings, securing evidence and preparing cases for prosecution.
This role as one which will require an enhanced criminal record check via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and a SC level check (Security Clearance). This role may not bring you into direct contact with children or vulnerable adults, however it may give you access to material or sensitive information about children or vulnerable adults in the future.
The post holder will be an experienced investigator with a wide range of investigatory skills. The UST is looking to expand on and strengthen its investigatory methods, and the USI will play a leading role in developing a new strategy for this. We are looking for candidates who can use their knowledge and experience as investigators to bring new ideas and insights to the team’s work. They will need to be flexible, confident and show initiative from the beginning. They will be skilled in the use of IT packages, systems and/or databases to fulfil role requirements. They will also need to be able to quickly familiarise themselves with the legislation that underpins the work involved in investigating unregistered schools.