Schools setting up internal alternative provision lack guidance on what works, risking it becoming a “holding pen”, a new warns.
School staff feel that internal alternative provision (AP) can be viewed as a “last-chance saloon” that merely replicates the exclusions they aim to prevent, according to research by charity The Difference.
The Difference analysed Department for Education data and interviewed 23 schools offering best practice in internal AP for its report What Works: four tenets of effective internal alternative provision.
More schools opening internal AP
The charity found that schools are increasingly opening internal AP to address absence, behaviour and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
But these schools are often “navigating uncharted territory” with “limited guidance, research or evidence about what works”, the report says.
Their efforts “need stronger support and clearer direction to ensure lasting, positive impact for the students they serve”, it adds.
School staff cited in the report warn that, without a robust referral mechanism in place, internal AP can be seen as a “dumping ground”.
Robust referral processes should be “data-driven” and “involve multiple professionals”, The Difference says.
Sharing best practice
Internal AP should be unified with the mainstream part of a school, and work as part of its inclusion and support systems, according to the charity.
Without this, internal AP “is at risk of being another form of exclusion”, the report says, adding: “This is a pitfall which some schools have struggled to overcome. It can result in the internal alternative provision becoming a costly ‘holding pen’.”
Internal AP should be a place of “support, not sanction” and should accurately identify the learning, wellbeing and safety needs of pupils and respond with appropriate support.
The charity’s analysis of official data shows that, of the 93,700 additional children identified with SEND in 2024-25, 30 per cent had social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH).
Effective internal AP balances “academic progress and wellbeing” and should be shaped by “measurable pupil outcomes”, the report adds.
In response to the research, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, called on the DfE to endorse the report and ensure that “this type of in-school support is properly funded”.
The DfE was contacted for comment.
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