Governor school visits: a chair’s guide and template schedule

Use our guide to help plan and prepare for governor school visits. Understand how you can link visits to the school improvement plan, and how you can help your governors prepare and report back effectively.

Last reviewed on 15 January 2026
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 34018
Contents
  1. Be clear on the purpose 
  2. Link visits to your school improvement plan (SIP)
  3. Set the frequency of visits and use our template to map out a schedule
  4. Make sure governors are clear on reporting back

Be clear on the purpose 

Visiting the school allows governors to see how specific aspects of school practice work in reality, ask questions and validate whether the things people say are happening are actually happening.

Visits aren't for governors to inspect the school, judge individual staff members or interfere with the day-to-day running of the school.

  • Visits should be:
    • In line with your school improvement plan (SIP) priorities
    • For an identified purpose linked to the governing body’s responsibilities, such as safeguarding
    • Pre-arranged with your headteacher or executive headteacher 

Share our 1-page summary on the purpose of school visits with all your governors to make sure they understand what's involved, and what they should and shouldn't do on visits  Then direct them to our how-to guide, which will help them with what to do before the visit, with template reports and dos and don'ts Use our top tips to encourage all your governors to be active in school