The Department for Education (DfE) defines alternative provision (AP) as:
- education arranged by local authorities for pupils who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not otherwise receive suitable education
- education arranged by schools for pupils on a fixed period exclusion
- pupils being directed by schools to off-site provision to improve their behaviour
Types of AP include:
- pupil referral units
- therapeutic farms
- forest schools
- outdoor learning centres
- sports facilities
- hospital schools
- animal-assisted therapeutic centres
- vocational and practical courses (for example, mechanics or hairdressing)
Pupils may attend AP full-time or part-time, with the rest of their education taking place at their usual school. They must receive an equivalent full-time education to their peers in mainstream schools.
Pupil referral unit
The most common type of AP is a pupil referral unit (PRU). This is a school that caters for children who are not able to attend a mainstream school. These are much smaller than mainstream schools, with very small class numbers and lots of pastoral support. Around a third of pupils in AP attend PRUs.
How pupils move to alternate provision
There are 3 main ways in which a child might be transferred to AP:
- Permanent exclusion – the pupil is removed from the school roll (the school no longer has any responsibility for the child)
- Managed move – the pupil transfers to alternative provision voluntarily. This is a more consensual approach that involves the full cooperation of parents, governors and the local authority or academy trust. It avoids the child having a permanent exclusion in their records. (It is important to note that the pupil will be dual-registered for an agreed period of time, usually 12 weeks. Should they ‘fail’ their managed move, the pupil returns to their original educational setting).
- Referral – the pupil remains on the roll of their current school but receives some or all of their education off-site
Full-time or part-time
Depending on the individual needs and circumstances of the pupil, off-site direction into AP can be full-time or a combination of part-time support in AP and continued mainstream education.
A proposed maximum period of time should be discussed and agreed upon as part of the planning phase for an off-site direction.
As part of planning, alternative options should be considered once the time limit has been reached, including a managed move on a permanent basis (if a pupil is placed in a mainstream school) upon review of the time limited placement.