Affiliated School Groups

Becoming a CIS Affiliated School Group is an option for school groups that want to move beyond individual school engagement to a more strategic, organisation-wide approach. It brings together CIS membership, International Accreditation, and services into a single, aligned model at the group level.

In partnership with group leadership, we provide guidance, insight, and coordinated support to strengthen governance, drive consistency, and support improvement across all schools.

All CIS Affiliated School Groups make a shared commitment to align their governance, leadership, and educational practices with CIS standards, including a strong focus on safeguarding, well-being, and socially responsible leadership. Through a structured review process, the group demonstrates how these commitments are consistently implemented across both the organisation and its schools.

By learning and developing together as a connected community, school groups strengthen the quality of education they provide—supporting student learning, well-being, and long-term success across all schools. Affiliated School Groups also commit to bringing their schools into CIS membership.

Individual schools within the group engage with CIS through a school-level membership process. Schools that successfully complete this process become CIS Members and can then begin CIS International Accreditation and access the full range of membership services. Membership and accreditation remain school-based, reflecting each school’s own context and practice rather than applying automatically across the entire group.
 

What does the Group Quality Mark mean?

The Group Quality Mark recognises that a school group is committed to ethical practice, socially responsible leadership, and effective strategic oversight at the governance and ownership level in alignment with CIS standards. It demonstrates that the group’s leadership commitments are reflected consistently across its schools.

The quality mark is awarded at the organisational level following a structured evaluation process that focuses on how effectively the group provides leadership, oversight, and strategic direction across its schools. This process highlights the strength and consistency of the group’s leadership and its alignment with CIS standards.

As part of the review, CIS also confirms that the group’s leadership standards are reflected consistently within individual schools, ensuring that values such as safeguarding, well-being, and continuous improvement are embedded across the organisation.

Following successful completion of this reflective process, the organisation is recognised as a CIS Affiliated School Group and may use the CIS affiliated group icon. This quality mark signals alignment with CIS standards and a shared commitment to ethical practice and responsible leadership. Schools within the group that successfully complete the CIS school membership process are recognized as CIS Member schools.