The Secretary of State shall have power to cause inspection to be made of every F1school at such intervals as appear to him to be appropriate, and to cause a special inspection of any F2school to be made whenever he considers such an inspection to be desirable, and he may from time to time cause inspection to be made of any other educational establishment F3(other than a designated institution within the meaning of Part II of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992), and such inspections shall be made by Her Majesty’s Inspectors or F4any person appointed by the Scottish Ministers for the purposes of this section (or Her Majesty’s Inspectors and any such person).

Without prejudice to subsection (1) above, the Scottish Ministers shall have power to cause inspection to be made at any establishment in which school education is provided in pursuance of arrangements entered into under section 35 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000 (asp 6); and such inspections shall be made by Her Majesty’s Inspectors or any person appointed by the Scottish Ministers for the purposes of this section (or Her Majesty’s Inspectors and any such person).

Notwithstanding subsection (1) above, the Secretary of State shall have power to cause inspection to be made of the education and training, wherever it is carried out, provided by institutions within the higher education sector (within the meaning of the M1Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992) wholly or mainly for persons preparing to be, or persons who are, teachers in schools, and such inspections shall be made by Her Majesty’s Inspectors or other persons appointed by the Secretary of State for the purpose.

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If any person F9wilfullyobstructs any person authorised to make an inspection in pursuance of this section in the execution of his duty, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F10level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.