Where can I find that? DfE guidance on alternative provision.
I hear a lot of queries about rules and guidance and where it’s possible to find it online? I also hear people quoting things as if they are definitive rules when they aren’t. I’ve heard leaders of unregistered provisions say ‘you can’t go over 15 hours’ and ‘you can have 1 EHCP pupil full-time’ in the last couple of weeks. Both are untrue. So, where do we go for the definitive information?
I share these links in the knowledge that, even when you read them they aren’t always clear. We offer support for organisations around registering as an independent school and have simplified the standards into easy to access checklists. We’ve also taken guidance from the DfE and Ofsted and incorporated it into some of the audits and helpsheets you can find in our knowledge bank. Do get in touch for a consultation if you could do with more help and a clear common sense interpretation. https://www.closethegaps.co.uk/appointments-1
There are 1380 pieces of guidance on the DfE website. Obviously they cover a large range of sectors from Early Years through to Adult Education. Here I’ve just linked to the key pieces of guidance it’s helpful to reference if you’re involved in alternative provision.
The safeguarding guidance we all work under is updated annually. The latest Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 is a must read and can be found here:
Working together to improve school attendance was updated in August 2024 and brings in a focus on the whole school community focussing on improving attendance in the same way we all work to improve safeguarding. It contains key information like attendance codes and guidance around how days at AP should be coded.
Statutory guidance for AP and local authorities outlines the fact that LAs are responsible for finding suitable education for permanently excluded pupils and other pupils who ‘would not receive suitable education without such arrangements being made’. It also outlines that schools may direct pupils off-site for education ‘to help improve their behaviour’. It outlines that such education should be full-time (in this case full-time is described as the ‘same amount of education as they would receive in a maintained school’). The guidance is also clear that education for pupils can be made up of two or more part-time provisions.
Schools using AP must ensure that parents are given clear information, the placement is reviewed on a frequent enough basis to provide assurance that off-site education is achieving its objectives and the pupil is benefitting from it.
It describes good provision as aiming for:
· Good academic attainment on a par with mainstream (particularly in English, Maths and Science)
· Personal, social and academic needs of pupils and identified and met
· Pupil motivation, self confidence, attendance and engagement are improved
· Places have clearly defined objectives such as re-integration or successful transition
It makes it clear that responsibility for the AP used rests with the commissioner. They should have on-going contact and clear communication procedures. It outlines that APs should have high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks.
There is a document released as recently as Feb 2025 that outlines an LA’s responsibilities for AP. Key points are that placements should always be made with re-integration or a move to Post-16 in mind. Local Authorities can name an AP on an EHCP but it’s ‘not common practice’. All LAs should have a strategic plan for AP which includes QA and commissioning and that tuition hours can count as full-time education when they are less in number than a child in mainstream receives as they are ‘more intense’.
There has been a consultation around some standards for unregistered provisions. It was under the last government but the DfE is still moving forward with these. The standards are likely to come in in a voluntary form in the next few months. We can’t be sure what they’ll entail but they are likely to be similar to those outlined in the consultation document here:
When to register as an independent school:
How to register as an independent school is outlined in the document below. It’s particularly useful on page 6 where it talks about the parameters in which you are allowed to register. It defines the 5 or more students full-time or one full-time student with an EHCP or who is LAC. It’s probably the clearest definition in any guidance for what constitutes a school and needs registration:
The DfE, through Ofsted will investigate provisions it suspects of acting as illegal schools (meeting the definition of a school but not registering). The statement that outlines this process is here:
and links to Ofsted’s handbook for inspections of ‘unregistered schools’
The independent school standards aren’t written in a particularly accessible form but can be found here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3283/schedule/made
The DfE produced additional guidance which adds some details around the expectations of the Independent School Standards here:
If the ISS aren’t met then the process is outlined here:
For those working at registered provisions by far the most common comments for development on Ofsted reports are around the curriculum. This links to a useful blog around Ofsted’s approach to looking at the curriculum in an AP. Of course, it’s subject to change in the much anticipated new framework.
The SEND and AP Green Paper gives the policy thrust of the last government so is more useful as a document that gives themes around how the system can work better rather than distinct guidance. How much of the document will come to fruition is questionable since the government has changed.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-and-ap-green-paper-responding-to-the-consultation
Like I said, there are over a thousand documents on the DfE website. I have picked out the key ones for AP practitioners. You can also find ones on linked subjects like Elective Home Education that it may be worth looking at in specific cases. Some that link most closely to AP day-to-day practice are here:
Making a referral to prevent:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-a-referral-to-prevent
Responsibilities where mental health is affecting attendance:
Filtering and monitoring standards expecting in schools:
Children missing education:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-missing-education
Searching, screening and confiscation in schools:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation
School exclusions – guide for parents:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusions-guide-for-parents
Guidance for preventing and responding to bullying:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying
or you can search the full list here:
