CYP Now - Lack of AP settings leading to unsuitable placements for children, Ofsted warns

Children who are unable to attend mainstream school are placed in unsuitable alternative provision (AP) due to a lack of capacity for young people with specific needs, Ofsted has warned.

AP is designed to support children who cannot attend mainstream school. Picture: Adobe Stock

A report into how education, health and care partners work together to commission and oversee AP, by the inspectorate and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), highlights that “local authority leaders explain that the limited choice of AP resulted in placements of convenience, rather than identifying a provision that was carefully tailored to a child’s needs”.

AP is commissioned by schools or local authorities when pupils have been excluded or cannot attend mainstream school, for example due to complex medical, social or emotional needs.

Currently, not all AP needs to be registered or inspected, meaning there is lack of oversight of children and young people in unregistered AP, according to Ofsted.

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