First Published in 1998. This is Volume XX of twenty-eight in the Sociology of Education series. This book seeks to portray the growth of inspection in England, in a framework of its relations with teaching on the one hand, with administration on the other. It traces the history of inspection in the organisation of schools from its beginnings, examines the position of inspectors and the work of inspection, and identifies the difference between the functions of Her Majesty's Inspectors and those of the inspectors to alocal education authority