Licensed Inspector Application Form

Sponsoring Diocese

Every inspector will be recruited by a Sponsoring Diocese. This does not necessarily need to be the diocese in which you live. The Sponsoring Diocese is the diocese you are applying to be an inspector with. It is the one that will carry out the eligibility checks and recruitment processes and is likely to be the diocese in which you will carry out the majority of your inspections, if you are successfully recruited.

When an inspector carries out an inspection, they are acting on behalf of the Bishop or Archbishop of the diocese in which the school is situated. For this reason they must be able to act with integrity as his representative, and must therefore be practising Catholics in full communion with the Catholic Church. The Department of Education and Formation of the Catholic Bishops' Conference has defined 'practising Catholic' for the purposes of recruiting to the Inspectorate as follows.

An applicant is a practising Catholic if:

1. they comply with the obligation to participate in the Mass on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation
2. they have received the Sacrament of Confirmation
3. there is no moral or canonical impediment which precludes the applicant from receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist regularly, and that they do receive it at least once a year
4. they provide for the needs of the Church.

This will be confirmed by a reference provided by your parish priest (or equivalent) or the parish priest (or equivalent) where you regularly attend Mass. Please make sure that one of your referees is able to provide this parish priest's reference.

In addition, you need to confirm below that you are a practising Catholic (as defined above) who is in full communion with the Catholic Church. For a fuller exploration of what this entails, please see pages 26-34 of Christ at the Centre (available here)

All newly recruited inspectors must be qualified teachers. There is more than one means of ascertaining this, for example by holding DfE Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), or by holding other equivalent or higher professional status, such as Chartered Teacher, or equivalent (including training-related qualifications) for further education and skills.

For those dioceses who currently use experienced inspectors who lack this criterion, such inspectors may, at the discretion of the diocese, still be considered eligible until they retire from inspection. Applicants who are applying to be inspectors for the first time who do not meet this criterion would not be eligible. 

Please list all previous employment in chronological order, beginning with the most recent. Please include all previous employment.

Please add a separate row for each previous employer by clicking the + button.

If there are any periods of time that have not been accounted for in your application, for instance, periods spent raising a family or of extended travel, please give details of them here with dates.

The information provided in this form must provide a complete chronology from the age of 18. Please ensure that there are no gaps in the history of your education, employment and other experience. Failure to provide a full account may lead to your application being rejected.

To add more rows, press the + button.

Please list all higher education qualifications in chronological order, beginning with the most recent.

To add more rows, press the + button.

Please list all relevant post-graduate education qualifications in chronological order, beginning with the most recent.

To add more rows, press the + button

Please provide a written statement of no more than 700 words detailing why you believe your experience, skills, personal qualities, training and/or education are relevant to your suitability as an applicant to the training for the Catholic Schools Inspectorate. Please upload as a Word or pdf file.

You need to provide the names of two referees:

1. A person suitable to provide you with a professional reference.
2. Your parish priest, or the parish priest of the parish where you regularly worship. 

It is your responsibility to ensure that all named referees, including parish priests, have consented to providing a reference.

In accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education your sponsoring diocese will obtain and scrutinise references prior to interview and referees will be contacted to provide further clarification as appropriate. All information provided by referees will also be compared for consistency with the information you provide on this form and you will be asked about any discrepancies. Please advise if you do not want your sponsoring diocese to take up references at this stage and provide reasons, by contacting the relevant diocesan officer.

If you are employed, this should come from your current employer. If you are recently retired, this should come from a person who has recently had professional oversight of your work.

Please provide details of your professional referee below:

The parish priest's reference should come from your parish priest or the parish priest where you regularly attend Mass. The priest will need to be able to confirm to the best of his knowledge and belief that: 

1. you comply with the obligation to participate in the Mass on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation
2. you have received the Sacrament of Confirmation 
3. there is no moral or canonical impediment which precludes you from receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist regularly, and that you do receive it at least once a year
4. you provide for the needs of the Church.

 Please provide the contact details of a priest who is able to provide this reference for you.

If you are succesfully recruited as an inspector, you will be issued with a photo id licence, that will demonstrate that you are licensed to inspect. Please upload a passport sized photograph that you would like to be used on your photo id badge. This photograph should be:

• of your head and face only, as in a passport, with your head and face clearly visible
• in portrait mode
• against a white or neutral background
• in focus

The file size should not exceed 1mb.

If you know that any of the information you have given in this application form is false or if you have knowingly omitted or concealed any relevant fact about your eligibility to serve as a Licensed Inspector which comes to the attention of your Sponsoring Diocese then your application form may be withdrawn from the recruitment process.  Please note that checks may be carried out in order to verify the information you have included.

Providing false information may result in this application being rejected.  If such a discovery is made after you have been appointed as a Licensed Inspector then you may be liable to be removed from the register of accredited inspectors and your licence to inspect will be revoked.  

By signing below I hereby certify that:

• all the information given by me both on this form and in any supplementary pages and/or the supporting evidence provided, is correct to the best of my knowledge and belief;
• all the questions relating to me have been fully answered;
• I possess all the qualifications that I claim to hold. 

I acknowledge that it is my responsibility as the applicant, if invited for interview, to disclose information to the panel which may affect my suitability and/or eligibility to work with children and/or vulnerable adults.