15th May 2009
By Graham Clews
Almost a third of schools are failing to arrange alternative education for excluded pupils within the six days now required by law, an Ofsted report has found.
Of the 31 secondary and special schools visited by the inspectorate, ten failed to provide education away from the school’s site, as the law demands.
All but two of the local authorities included in the inspections identified their own pupil referral unit as the correct body to arrange excluded pupils’ education, but eight of them did not provide the education because of a lack of capability in their PRU.
Before the new Education and Inspections Act 2006, schools had to provide education for pupils after 16 days of exclusion. The change to six days has prompted schools to reduce exclusions, the report found. The number of exclusions of more than six days fell in 23 of the schools inspected.
Ofsted recommended that all parties involved should monitor the effectiveness of such provision for pupils. Schools should ensure that they provide the information that will allow excluded pupils to be educated from day six.
Ofsted chief inspector of schools Christine Gilbert said it was clear that some schools were struggling to provide education for excluded pupils. She added: ‘It is essential that all schools are given the help they need to ensure their excluded pupils continue to receive their education.’
