No one has the power to close illegal schools, the head of Ofsted admits

No one has the power to close illegal schools, the head of Ofsted has admitted, as it emerged that a headteacher who has been prosecuted vowed to continue operating.

Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector, said that inspectors, local authorities and the Department for Education are all unable to shut down unregistered schools even when they are breaking the law.

Her comments came after Nadia Ali, the headmistress of Ambassadors High in Streatham, south London, said the school will remain open.

Last month Ms Ali and her father were both convicted under section 96 of the Education and Skills Act after a court heard that they were running a full-time school “without the legal authority to do so”.

The south London school, which describes itself as having an Islamic ethos, says it charges £2,500 a year per pupil and had 45 children on the roll at the time of its last inspection.

But it has not yet met standards required to register. But Ms Ali said that her pupils were "happy learners" and denied she was breaking the law, as the school is now open 18 hours a week.

Ofsted inspectors found that the school had "wilfully neglected" safeguarding and that almost half of its teachers had not undergone criminal record checks.

Ms Spielman urged ministers to consider disqualifying people who have run an illegal school, as a way to stop them from continuing to operate. Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show, she said: “The law never contemplated that people would attempt to run schools against the law.

“We can issue a warning notice, but schools like this do not want to operate within the law and no one has the power to close them, neither us, local authorities or Department for Education. There is no general power to close something that is not registered as a school.

“We need a better definition of a school – it is too easy to fiddle at the margins and claim that something isn't a school. When people are operating illegally, there should be somebody with powers to make it close.

“There should be serious consideration of disqualifying people who've run an illegal school. The legal framework needs to evolve.”

Lord Agnew, an education minister, said unregistered schools were "illegal, unsafe and anyone found to be running one will be prosecuted".

He told the BBC that there are a “range of legal powers” that can be used to ensure children are safe, adding: "We have provided funding to a number of councils to boost their capacity to take action on settings causing concern."