Every child, regardless of who they are or where they live, deserves an excellent education. Yet for too many children in England, this reality feels far out of reach.
A common theme among the children I speak to is how much they value their education – they know it can shape their futures, their confidence and can give them a sense of purpose. But many also tell me about the barriers in the way of getting that great education, or even to being in school regularly: from mental health conditions, to problems at home or the adaptations needed for a disability.
Children with additional needs are over-represented in the 1.7 million pupils either persistently or severely absent from school. And today, new research I’m publishing shows they are also over-represented in the use of unregistered alternative provision, with more than half of the 24,325 children educated in these settings having an education, health and care plan.
The use of unregistered alternative provision has almost doubled over the past five years, meaning soaring numbers of children – and often those with the biggest vulnerabilities – are educated in settings where there is no national oversight, no shared standards and often no guarantee of safety.
For many of these children, alternative provision (AP) can offer a lifeline. I have heard from children how the support, including one-to-one tuition, smaller vocational settings and therapeutic provision, can offer care and life skills education that school settings might not be able to.
When done well, AP can be transformative. It can be a place where a child’s curiosity is reignited, rebuilding their confidence and putting them back on a path to success.
Those benefits from the best AP available should be part of a national network. That means every setting should be registered on a national database – without that, we risk allowing the worst quality settings to operate in the shadows.
Unregistered means staff may not have passed even the most basic safeguarding checks. In the worst-case scenarios, some have been run by individuals with criminal records.
Alternative provision can offer a lifeline
This should never be allowed. We would never tolerate this kind of risk in another part of a child’s life, so shouldn’t tolerate it for children’s education.
Simply put, it’s time for change.
We need a national register for alternative provision. I have seen how unregistered settings have a low level of legislative responsibility that allows them to operate as a small and adaptable market, which can complement the offer of neighbouring schools. But there must be some national oversight.
I want to see an overhaul of the system that compels providers to register with the Department for Education and pass a national standard inspection, done locally, before they can offer education to children. Those that do not meet these standards, or who fail to register, would be considered unregistered and therefore acting illegally. To combat this, Ofsted needs the necessary powers to intervene, and the DfE should be able to close settings and fine owners.
National quality standards should also be created for licensed education providers, covering safeguarding, education quality, health and safety and child wellbeing, with Independent quality assurance teams in each local authority to conduct inspections.
No child should be left in a setting that puts them at risk
Together these would give us accurate and consistent data on who is running AP, how it’s being used and why vulnerable children are being referred there.
Crucially, it also means removing the barriers that prevent existing high-quality providers from registering. I have seen inspiring examples of provision – often small, community-based, and deeply committed to their children – who lack a clear path to becoming part of the regulated system, whether through cost, capacity or access to information. We should be supporting those providers, not shutting them out.
Finally, I want the government to commission a review of all types of unregistered AP, to consider the evidence of what works, and to set metrics for child outcomes within this sector.
My research today sets a blueprint for change. No child should be left in a setting that puts them at risk. Every child deserves to be safe. Every child deserves to learn, with shared standards of quality across the country. And every child should be in a system that puts their needs first.
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