Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have today published a report looking at how education, health and care partners work together to commission and oversee alternative provision (AP)
The report finds that the lack of national standards and clarity around who is responsible for AP commissioning and oversight are leading to inconsistent outcomes for children and young people.
Read the ‘Alternative provision in local areas in England: a thematic review’
AP is commissioned by schools or local authorities when pupils have been excluded or cannot attend mainstream school, for example due to complex medical, social or emotional needs. Currently, not all AP needs to be registered or inspected, meaning there is lack of oversight of children and young people in unregistered AP.
While good registered AP plays an important role in providing high quality support, care and education to vulnerable children, the report finds that too many children and young people’s experiences are negative, and the overall picture is of a system in desperate need of reform. Many attending AP experience a highly disrupted education, with one parent describing the situation as “soul destroying”. One child also spoke about feeling abandoned by their home school.
The report highlights some examples of good practice, including some local areas successfully supporting children and young people in transitioning out of AP. However, decisions about placing children and young people in AP are not always considered thoroughly enough and the effectiveness of placements is not properly monitored. These issues are compounded by a lack of clear purpose for the use of AP and poor strategic planning. Inspectors also found that agencies do not always collaborate, and health partners often are not involved in decision making about individual AP placements.
The report sets out a series of recommendations to improve the commissioning and oversight of AP, which will help children and young people both while they are attending AP and after they leave the education system.
These include:
Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, said:
Nigel Thompson, Deputy Director of Multiagency Operations at the Care Quality Commission, said:
Notes to Editors