Information sharing is the key to success of alternative provision

A review into the standard of education received by pupils taught in non-mainstream school settings has raised concerns about information sharing throughout the system.

The final report of Ofsted's three-year review of alternative education, published last month, found that while improvements have been made, concerns remained over the relationship between alternative providers, schools and councils.

Ofsted's findings, drawn from inspections of 165 schools and the 448 alternative providers they used, assesses how the non-mainstream schooling system has addressed concerns highlighted by the inspectorate's 2011 review and sheds light on how it is adapting to the growth of academies.

The previous Ofsted report concluded that "very few" schools tracked the impact of provision on the development of pupils, most of whom have been excluded due to behaviour problems or being vulnerable (see box).