Proofreading Contractor

About the Independent Schools Inspectorate

The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is a government-appointed, not-for-profit organisation responsible for inspecting over 1,300 independent schools in England, private further education colleges, and British Schools Overseas. Our mission is to uphold rigorous statutory standards while fostering a culture of collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement in education.

As part of our growing inspection programme, we are expanding our pool of contract Proofreaders to ensure our reports maintain the highest standards of accuracy, clarity, and consistency.

About the Role

As a Contract Proofreader, you will be working alongside ISI’s Quality Assurance Team, responsible for ensuring that inspection reports are error-free, internally consistent, and ready for publication. These reports are shared with the Department for Education, the inspected schools, and published on ISI’s website.

Key deliverables of the position include:

• Proofreading reports for accuracy, identifying and correcting errors and omissions including formatting and numbering
• Identifying inconsistencies and/or contradictions in report statements, observations and recommendations
• Highlighting draft text that might be deemed to be inappropriate or present risk to ISI.

Terms of Appointment

ISI Proofreaders will be paid on a ‘per-report’ basis. Proofreading for routine inspection reports is offered at £100 per report. This is intended to reflect time spent on administration of reports as well as the proofing process.

Non-routine inspection reports are typically shorter and follow a templated format. Proofreading for non-routine inspection reports is offered at £70 per report.

Please note, report allocation varies week to week depending on inspection volume. We cannot guarantee a fixed number of reports.

Contractor Requirements

ISI Proofreaders will need to demonstrate the following skills and attributes:

• A thorough knowledge of the English language;
• Experience of assessing and/or editing and/or proofreading documents professionally
• A methodical and consistent working style
• Concentration, accuracy and great attention to detail
• The ability to work to tight deadlines and to complete work at short notice
• Discipline and self-motivation
• Computer literacy, particularly with MS Word, MS Outlook, spreadsheets and databases
• Familiarity with working style guides
• An understanding of the education landscape and schools, in particular, to identify risk
• Judgement to identify wording and phrases that might present risk to ISI 

Appointment Process

The appointment process will begin from the week commencing Monday 28th July and will continue until there is sufficient capacity within the pool to manage ISI’s proofreading requirements.

If you would like to apply for this position, please send to recruitment@isi.net :

• Your CV including details of your present (or last) employment and reason for leaving full employment history including employed and voluntary work, and including any reasons for gaps in employment (to be included within your CV) details of your qualifications  (to be included within your CV);
• A covering letter of no more than two sides, outlining the personal qualities and experience you believe are relevant to the post and how you meet each element of the person and role specifications.

Deadline for receipt of applications: Friday 1st August 2025 by 5pm.

Applicants who meet the person and role criteria will be invited for an interview remotely. Successful applicants will then be invited to complete a sample proofread exercise.

Please note that as per ISI's policy, the applicants will need to successfully complete a Basic DBS Check.