98 Registration of independent schools.S
(1)The Secretary of State shall appoint one of his officers to be the Registrar of Independent Schools in Scotland (hereinafter in this Part of this Act referred to as “the Registrar”), and it shall be the duty of the Registrar to keep a register of independent schools, which shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times, and the Registrar shall register therein—
(a)where the proprietor of an independent school makes application for the purpose and furnishes the information required by regulations made under this section, such of the particulars prescribed by regulations so made as the Secretary of State may direct, F1
(b)every order of an Independent Schools Tribunal or of the Secretary of State imposing or removing any disqualification under Part V of the Act of 1946, Part V of the Act of 1962 or this Part of this Act: [F2and
(c)where a school has ceased to be a grant-aided school, such of the particulars prescribed by regulations made under this section as the Secretary of State may direct:]
Provided that—
no independent school shall be registered if, by virtue of an order made under the provisions hereinafter contained, the proprietor is disqualified from being the proprietor of an independent school, or if the school premises are disqualified from being used as a school, or if the school premises are used or proposed to be used for any purpose for which they are disqualified by virtue of any such order; F1
[F3no independent school shall be registered if the Registrar has been given notice by the Scottish Ministers that they are satisfied, on such grounds as they shall specify in the notice, that the proprietor is not a proper person to be the proprietor of any school, that a teacher to be employed in the school is not a proper person to be a teacher in any school or that the school premises, or any parts of those premises, are unsuitable for a school;]
[F4Subject to subsection (1A) below,] the registration of any school shall be provisional only until the Secretary of State, after the school has been inspected on his behalf under section 66 of this Act, gives notice to the proprietor that the registration is final.
[F5(1A)Proviso (ii) to subsection (1) above shall not apply to the registration of any school referred to in paragraph (c) of that subsection unless the Registrar gives notice in writing to the proprietor of the school that the said proviso applies to that registration.]
(2)If any person—
(a)conducts an independent school which is not a registered school or a provisionally registered school, or
(b)being the proprietor of an independent school does any act calculated to lead to the belief that the school is a registered school while it is a provisionally registered school,
he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F6level 4 on the standard scale] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
F7(2A). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3)The Secretary of State shall make regulations—
(a)prescribing the particulars information as to which is to be furnished to the Registrar by the proprietors of independent schools and the manner in which it shall be so furnished;
(b)requiring the notification to the Registrar of any changes in such particulars;
(c)prescribing the circumstances in which the name of a school may be deleted from the register if the Registrar is unable to obtain sufficient information of such changes; and
(d)dealing with such incidental matters as the Secretary of State may deem expedient.
Textual Amendments
F1Word repealed by Education (Scotland) Act 1981 (c. 58), Sch. 9
F3Para. (ia) of the proviso to s. 98 inserted (13.10.2000) by 2000 asp 6, s. 24(1)(a); S.S.I. 2000/361, art. 3(1)(2), Sch. Pt. I
F4Words inserted by Education (Scotland) Act 1981 (c. 58), s. 9(a)(iv)
F5S. 98(1A) inserted by Education (Scotland) Act 1981 (c. 58), s. 9(b)
F6Words in s. 98(2) substituted (1.4.1996) by 1995 c. 40, ss. 3, 7(2), Sch. 1 para. 10, Sch. 2 Pt. III.
F7S. 98(2A) repealed (13.10.2000) by 2000 asp 6, s. 24(1)(b); S.S.I. 2000/361, art. 3(1)(2), Sch. Pt. I (subject to transitional provisions in art. 4)