Will the inspector accept plans done on a computer? What the Guide to Inspection says

Of all the reasons teachers give for staying with the paper folder, the most common one is a person: the cigire. The folder has always been handed over in hard copy, so the hard copy feels like the safe format, and moving your planning to a screen feels like a risk you would be taking in front of the one audience you least want to surprise.

The Inspectorate’s own guidance says otherwise, in writing.

The wording

The Department’s Guide to Inspection in Primary and Special Schools sets out, per inspection model, the documents schools are asked to provide, and describes them as requested “in electronic format preferably”. Preferably. The inspection system is not merely tolerating digital records; electronic is its preferred format for receiving them.

That is consistent with the direction of the 2026 preparation guidance, which concerns itself with the substance of recorded preparation, the learning outlined and the record kept true, and leaves format and structure to teachers and whole-school agreement. No circular, guide or guidance document requires planning to be handwritten or to live in a physical folder.

What inspectors actually read your planning for

Format settled, the real questions an inspector brings to recorded preparation are the same ones your principal brings:

• Does the plan name the learning, with the right curriculum reference for each subject? (In 2026/27 the right document varies by subject.)
• Does the record reflect what actually happened, deviations included, rather than reading as a copied-forward intention?
• Does the monthly record connect back to the plans and forward to the next month?

A paper folder and a PDF can both pass or fail those questions. The format was never the thing being inspected.

The practical advantages of electronic records

Once the permission question is settled, the advantages run one way: every plan and Cúntas in one place rather than across years of copybooks, the curriculum reference attached at the moment of planning rather than transcribed, and a clean PDF whenever anyone, principal or inspector, asks for the records.

In Pleanáil, every fortnightly plan, Cúntas Míosúil and long-term plan exports as PDF or Word, and the app gathers your recorded preparation in one place so producing the folder is a download rather than a weekend. Your plans cite the correct curriculum automatically, which is one less thing to defend under observation.

One teacher-protective note: keep your records exportable. Whatever tool you use, you should be able to walk away with your own documents at any time. (Pleanáil’s exports are yours, unwatermarked and complete, on the trial as well as the paid plan.)

See what your records look like gathered in one place: three fortnightly plans, a real Cúntas Míosúil and long-term plans, free for 30 days, no card needed. Start your free 30-day trial.