Astonishingly, for children whose behaviour is too difficult to manage in a mainstream school, there is little clarity about the route into - and, more importantly, out of - alternative provision, and parents often have very little say about whether it is the right solution.
Pupil referral units (PRUs) can provide excellent support and education for some students but not always, and the decision to send a child there may well have motives other than providing the most appropriate education and care.
More than 70 per cent of children in PRUs have a special educational need or disability (SEND). Given the higher cost of supporting children with SEND in mainstream schools there may be a financial incentive for referring them to a PRU. As the Special Educational Consortium, based at the National Children's Bureau, told the inquiry, the funding system gives schools a perverse incentive to exclude these children because the costs associated with them transfer to local authorities.
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