The trouble with alternative education

2 June 2009 1 min read Howard Williamson Education

It really is quite incredible that it has taken Ofsted 10 years to conclude that a significant minority of schools are failing to provide suitable forms of alternative education. Those close to the action will have known this ever since the opportunity for "disapplication" became available. The reason is not so much a lack of resources - though in many ways this is reason enough, for alternatives are often dramatically more expensive - but rather a case of misunderstanding what the alternative curriculum was all about in the first place.

The idea emerged from a House of Commons Education Select Committee report called Disaffected Children. The committee, chaired by Margaret Hodge, was concerned about what it referred to as the "straitjacket" of the National Curriculum which, although working quite well for a majority of young people, was not working at all for a considerable minority, especially those reaching Key Stage 4 - the 15- and 16-year-olds.

The committee deliberated on various alternatives, including broadening the basis - by accommodating a wider range of forms of achievement - on which school league tables were constructed. This was ultimately rejected on the grounds that schools would start to play a percentage game and allocate young people to the "quickest wins", irrespective of their learning needs.

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