Nearly 16,000 children in England learn in state-funded alternative provision (AP). These are educational settings for school-aged pupils who are unable to attend mainstream school. These pupils may have been excluded from their previous school, have a medical condition or find themselves without a school place.
There are around 333 state-funded APs in England, with a growing array of unregistered providers. While APs offer core elements of the national curriculum, they typically provide additional elements such as work-based qualifications and recreational activities like sports and art, as well as therapeutic pursuits. Class sizes are usually much smaller than in mainstream school, and many APs have a higher presence of support staff.
For all their efforts at innovation, AP settings are still heavily stigmatised. They face questions around quality, reports of abuse and concerns about how pupils do in life after they leave.
Some parents are reluctant to send their children to AP, feeling disempowered by the process of exclusion and limited by the school options presented to them. While adult voices on AP are prominent in these debates, pupils’ own insights have received far less attention.
Acceptance Date
Apr 23, 2025
Online Publication Date
Apr 28, 2025
Publication Date
Apr 28, 2025
Deposit Date
Apr 28, 2025
Keywords
alternative provision; school exclusion; education
