School inspections chief named

THE NEW head of the agency regulating school inspections - one of the most powerful jobs in education - will be Chris Woodhead, chief executive of the Government's advisory body on the curriculum and testing, writes Judith Judd.

Ministers see the job of overseeing four-yearly inspections of schools as crucial to raising standards. The chief inspector advises the Secretary of State for Education on schools' standards and on whether a failing school can turn itself round.

Mr Woodhead, 47, takes up his five-year appointment on 1 September. He replaces Professor Stewart Sutherland, who is to become principal of Edinburgh University.