Schools will be required to inform councils of placements they have commissioned for students in unregistered alternative provision as part of a government move to tighten up the way these providers are used.
The government has also said it is moving ahead with plans to create new national standards for non-school alternative provision and to introduce time limits on student placements.
The plans have been confirmed in a that was launched by the last government just before the 2024 general election.
Local authorities and schools can arrange alternative provision for children of compulsory school age in settings that are not required to register as schools. This is referred to as unregistered alternative provision.
In January 2025, 17,327 children of compulsory school age were in school-arranged placements in unregistered alternative provision, and there were 10,333 school-aged children in local authority-arranged placements.
National standards will initially be voluntary
The DfE has said that the national standards for this alternative provision will initially be voluntary before they are tested, and then become mandatory through legislation.
Local authorities will be responsible for quality-assuring non-school alternative provision against the new national standards, while schools will be expected to ensure that interventions meet individual needs.
The DfE said that for the new arrangements to function effectively, “local authorities will need to be aware of all placements that have been commissioned in their areas”.
It added: “We will therefore require schools to routinely inform their local authority of every placement they have commissioned in non-school alternative provision”.
The DfE is also pushing ahead with a plan put forward by the previous government to introduce time limits on placements in non-school alternative provision, despite most responses to the consultation being opposed to this.
Placements can be extended beyond the time limits, but only in exceptional circumstances, the government has said.
Schools and councils commissioning the use of non-school alternative provision will be able to place pupils there full time for up to 12 weeks, or to commission part-time placements for up to two days or four sessions per week, for as long as is needed.
‘Targeted, bespoke interventions’
The new DfE response adds: “By delivering targeted, bespoke interventions to address complex needs, high-quality non-school alternative provision can supplement inclusive local systems.”
The government will also prevent councils from using unregistered alternative provision to fulfil their legal duties to ensure children who are not registered at a school are receiving an education.
The DfE consultation response said that most respondents disagreed with the proposals limiting the amount of time that children can spend in unregistered settings and preventing local authorities from placing children who are not on school admissions registers in unregistered alternative provision, in order to meet their section 19 duties.
However, the government said: “At present, too many vulnerable children are being placed indefinitely in non-school settings without any plans to reintegrate them back to in-school education. We believe that, wherever possible, all children in non-school alternative provision should successfully move back into a mainstream, special or alternative provision school when their placements end.”
The government had planned to extend local council oversight of any unregistered alternative providers delivering special educational provision known as “education other than at school” (EOTAS) for pupils with SEND. However, the DfE response advises that it will carry out further work before the government decides whether to proceed with these proposals.
The DfE received 308 responses to the consultation. Most were from unregistered providers, schools, local authorities and parents or carers of children who have been placed in unregistered settings.
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