Alternative Provision reform.

Alternative Provision (AP) plays a vital role in supporting some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the education system. Yet demand for AP is rising rapidly, while the supply of high-quality state-funded places is struggling to keep pace.

What We Found.

Our research shows:

Demand for Alternative Provision has increased by 31.8% in just three years.
Fewer than 17,000 pupils are educated in state-funded AP schools.
AP free schools achieve lower absence rates and stronger post-16 outcomes than other state-funded AP providers.

Read the report

Watch AP reform event

“Some pupils are never going to make it in mainstream school. There is nothing wrong with them, they just need something different.”

Head - Solihull AP

Our recommendations.

Every pupil in Alternative Provision registered at a state-funded school

Ensure no young person in AP is placed in unsuitable or low-quality provision, by requiring Local Authorities to discharge their s.19 duty in state-funded institutions.

All pupils should be on the roll of a state-funded school and that institution should have responsibility for safeguarding and quality of provision.

System wide definition for AP

The Government should articulate the clear and distinct role of Alternative Provision in the education system

The Government should clarify in guidance that when a pupil is in full time AP in KS4, reintegration into mainstream should not be the aim but a focus on KS4 qualifications.

National standards for AP

The Government should consult on National Standards for AP based on evidence with clear expectations about educational quality and successful long-term outcomes and Ofsted should reflect against them.

Where there are evidence gaps the Government and the EEF should sponsor further research into best practice.

Better data for system use and accountability

The Government should host a full live dataset of all registration marks in AP.

The Government should develop a performance framework focused on progress for use in Alternative Provision.

More AP free schools – opening the pipeline and sponsoring further wave

Those AP free schools in the pipeline should open as soon as possible.

The Government should hold future waves of AP free school competitions with the explicit aim to develop and trial innovation within AP, supported by rigorous evaluation.

Open more primary AP

Trusts and Local Authorities should consolidate their primary provision, and use any underutilised part of the school estate to provide more primary AP.

Trusts and Local Authorities should consolidate their primary provision, and use any underutilised part of the school estate to provide more primary AP. • The Government should facilitate the adaptation of primary schools to be suitable for use as Alternative Provision primaries.

Extend AP to post-16

The Government should support Local Authorities with a test and learn programme to test effective ways to support sustained post 16 outcomes after AP, including options to extend AP provision to KS5