Nearly 100 unregistered alternative providers that educate more than 1,000 children could be operating as illegal schools, a new investigation has found
Children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza has called for wide-ranging reforms to a system she says is “failing children who often need the greatest support”.
Government figures show 24,325 children were educated in unregistered APs last year, with placements from councils almost doubling to 11,436 since 2019.
While de Souza’s report says unregistered settings can “be a lifeline” by offering pupils more flexible or personalised education, they are not inspected by Ofsted and the government has few details on how they operate.
It says Ofsted has found some in “appalling conditions … run by people with criminal backgrounds [or] may be grooming young pupils for gangs”.
New analysis of the national pupil database and AP census by de Souza’s office found 91 settings could be operating illegally.
Ofsted: ‘Very concerning’
These settings “appear to be in contravention of their legal responsibility … to register as a school and to subject themselves to the national inspection system”.
They must register as a school if they provide full-time education to five or more pupils.
de Souza warned the unregulated nature of the system could create significant risks to children’s safety and to the quality of their learning.
“There is no guarantee that staff are properly trained, or even that they have passed the most basic safeguarding checks. In the worst cases, these settings have been run by individuals with serious criminal histories — and in some appalling instances, have placed children at risk of exploitation.”
Her evidence has been passed to Ofsted.
A spokesperson said the watchdog was “very concerned” about the number of illegal schools, with new figures showing that more than 1,500 investigations into potentially illegal schools have been carried out between 2016 and March 2025.
“Ofsted has limited resource for this growing area but our illegal schools team is constantly working to investigate and act on any school operating without the proper registration”, the spokesperson added.
Vulnerable pupil risk
Roughly one in 50 pupils with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) were in unregistered AP last year. They were often the most vulnerable – from the most disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs.
They tended to stay for most of a year, or more – regardless of the reason for their placement. This is against government advice that AP is for short periods.
“The current system is failing children, often those who need the greatest support from the education system,” the report said.
A lack of oversight “has led to the unregistered AP system becoming a shadow SEND system, filling the gaps where there is insufficient support in mainstream or special school places.
“We should not be placing our most vulnerable learners in the least regulated, least safe settings. We should be striving for the very best for these children.”
Who is sending children to unregistered AP?
Children are referred to unregistered APs either by their local authority or school, with schools making more referrals (58 per cent) in 2023-24 than local authorities (42 per cent).
Most placements made by schools were for off-site behavioural support.
Councils have two routes: pupils who can’t attend school because of exclusion, illness or another reason or pupils with an EHCP who can be placed in “education other than at school” (EOTAS).
Councils can arrange this if they are “satisfied” education at a school would be “inappropriate”.
The report said government guidance “categorically states” that EOTAS is not a form of unregistered AP.
But the research found there was “significant overlap” between the populations of unregistered AP and those in EOTAS.
There were at least 103 providers of unregistered AP which were used for both EOTAS and other reasons.
The report warned any attempt to solely regulate EOTAS “risks unregistered APs pressuring parents and local authorities to commission them” under a different route.
Huge local variation
Data reveals Northumberland (0.93 per cent), Knowsley (0.85 per cent), Wiltshire (0.82 per cent), Nottinghamshire (0.67 per cent) and Rotherham (0.63 per cent) have the highest proportion of children at unregistered APs.
Nottinghamshire, Knowsley, Wiltshire, Somerset and Torbay councils send the highest number of children on EHCPs to unregistered settings, ranging from 6.1 to 7.8 per cent.
Nottinghamshire, which sends the highest proportion of SEN children to unregistered AP, said it was often for those waiting for specialist school placement.
All providers were “subject to stringent quality assurance assessments and a review of their safeguarding, health and safety, risk assessment, behaviour management, safer recruitment, staff supervision and training”.
Wiltshire defended its use of AP, which it said was highlighted as a “key strength” in a recent Ofsted SEND inspection.
The report said the council “maintains a directory of registered and unregistered alternative providers” and “ensure quality is checked regularly”.
Sarah Johnson from PRUsAP, which advocates for AP, said the rise in unregistered settings was “a symptom of a struggling SEND system”.
But not all unregistered APs were unsafe or poor quality, she said. “Many are small, community-led, or specialist provisions that offer exceptional care and education, often in partnership with local authorities.”
National standards and market review
de Souza has called for the government to set up a national register, which would force all education providers to pass a local inspection before licensing. Providers that do not register or fail checks should be deemed “illegal” and Ofsted should intervene.
She also wants new “national standards for licensed supplementary educational providers”, which would cover safeguarding, health and safety, quality of education and information on how well they improve engagement with education.
These “proportionate” expectations would “allow small settings to continue”, the report said.
The government should also do annual data returns on the use of AP, to “develop a better understanding of the market”, and commission a review to uncover the different types of settings and the evidence on what works. The Education Endowment Foundation should “evaluate their effectiveness”.
Ofsted should also investigate councils’ commissioning during SEND inspections and the government should have powers to intervene and fine owners.
An Ofsted spokesperson agreed with the recommendation for greater oversight, but said the watchdog had “limited resource for this growing area”.
A DfE spokesperson said the government was strengthening Ofsted’s powers to investigate unregistered schools through the schools bill, as well as reforming the SEND system so more children could achieve and thrive in a local school.
The previous government last year consulted on plans to “time-limit” the use of unregistered AP, require settings to comply with national standards and have councils maintain lists of “approved” provision.
The DfE spokesperson said the department was “carefully considering”proposals to protect children in unregistered AP and would set out its next steps shortly.
Your thoughts