The Quality Assurance Cycle
ISASA (Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa) notifies schools at least six months in advance of their quality assurance visit, the actual dates are confirmed by OISESA, and the ensuing journey is a collaborative partnership between the school and their assigned mentor.
Once the school confirms its participation, OISESA introduces the mentor and establishes exact visit dates.
At least three months before the onsite visit, the mentor meets with the head of school to clarify the process and expectations.
The school appoints its internal quality assurance team (QAT) and team leader to spearhead the self-study.
The mentor provides online training for the school’s QAT team at least two months before the visit to to provide clarity and guidance.
The school completes a survey information form to fine-tune stakeholder questions to their specific context.
At least six to eight weeks before the visit, the school distributes OISESA-managed surveys to the Board, parents, staff, and students.
These surveys provide the compass for the direction of the self-study.
The school maps its strengths and areas for growth against the OISESA Standards & Indicators using the template provided.
A draft self-study report and a link to a digital portfolio of evidence are submitted to the mentor at least one week prior to the onsite visit.
The school prepares and shares the final timetable for the mentor’s onsite visit.
Over two to three days, the mentor engages with the school community to validate the self-study findings.
This is a collaborative process focused on practical insights rather than requiring excessive hard evidence.
The school submits its final self-study report two weeks after the visit, which the mentor then verifies and supplements with a mentor’s report.
Upon approval, OISESA issues a Quality Assurance Certificate and authorises the school to use the OISESA logo on official materials.
The final reports are shared with ISASA (Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa) to signal institutional quality. Reports can also be shared with stakeholders.
Schools submit a brief interim progress report three years after the visit using the template provided.
At OISESA, we believe authentic quality assurance starts with community reflection. While our pilot programme focused on refining standards, participating schools highlighted that direct stakeholder input is vital for identifying focus areas and building credibility.
To support this, we collaborated with the ISASA (Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa) Working Committee to design a suite of Stakeholder Opinion Surveys. These tools are now a cornerstone of pre-visit preparation, ensuring your school’s self-study is rooted in clear, actionable data. Parent questions are now translated into Afrikaans, isiZulu, Sesotho and isiXhosa.
Surveys are distributed to all core stakeholders, including teaching and admin staff, the board, students, and parents.
To allow for meaningful analysis, surveys are conducted at least six weeks prior to the scheduled school visit.
OISESA processes the responses and returns the data to your school in both graphic formats and Excel spreadsheets for easy evaluation.
You can review the specific survey questions in our Guidelines for Schools to see how they align with our global standards.
