Choosing an education provider

'Alternative provision' is education outside of school, arranged by local authorities or schools for children who, because of:

• exclusion
• illness
• or other reasons

would not otherwise receive suitable education.

It includes:

• education arranged by schools for pupils who are suspended
• education for pupils when they are directed by schools to off-site provision to improve their behaviour

For children living in Buckinghamshire the local authority is Buckinghamshire Council.

Parents and guardians have a duty to ensure their children receive a suitable, full-time education. This duty is from the Education Act 1996, section 7. Most do this by sending their children to school.

The legal duty for local authorities comes when a child of compulsory school age is not able to attend school unless special arrangements are made.

This may be because the child is unwell or suspended or excluded from school or for other reasons when it is not reasonably possible for a child to take advantage of any existing suitable schooling.

Local authorities must:

“make arrangements for the provision of suitable education at school or otherwise than at school for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them.” Education Act 1996, section 19 (1) This type of special arrangement for education is called alternative provision.

This duty is for the local authority to arrange alternative provision, not the school a child attends.

Local authorities need some way to identify when their duty has arisen, and some will expect schools to carry out assessments or arrange alternative provision themselves. However, responsibility remains with the local authority, which will be held to account by the Local Government Ombudsman following complaints if things go wrong. Local authorities can contract out their services, but not their responsibility for their statutory duties.

In all cases, local authorities must consider the individual circumstances of each child and be able to demonstrate how they made their decisions. They must take account of all available evidence and record the reasons for their decisions. They may need to make decisions in cases where they do not have all the evidence they would like.

Suitable education means efficient education suitable to a child’s age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs he may have. Education Act 1996, section 19 (6)

The education provided must be full-time unless the local authority determines that full-time education would not be in the child’s best interests for reasons of the child’s physical or mental health. Education Act 1996, section 19, (3A and 3AA)

Full-time education ranges from 21 hours per week at Key Stage 1 to 25 hours a week at Key Stage 4.

When one-to-one tuition is provided, the hours of face-to-face provision are usually fewer than 21 hours per week because the impact for the child will be more than if they were in a class of 30 children.

Compulsory school age is from five to 16. Education Act 1996, section 8 Local authorities may make alternative arrangements for a child or young person who is not of compulsory school age, but they do not have a duty to do so.

If a child is unable to attend school because of illness, the local authority must make alternative arrangements once the child has been absent for 15 days, either consecutively or cumulatively. The local authority must consider the individual circumstances of each child and take account of any medical evidence or advice when deciding what arrangements to make.

If a child has been permanently excluded from school, the local authority must arrange alternative education from the sixth school day following the exclusion, although it may start sooner.

If a child has been suspended from school for more than 5 days, the governing board must arrange alternative education from the sixth school day following the suspension.

For a child suspended from a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), the local authority must arrange alternative education from the sixth school day following the suspension.

In each case, the education provided must be suitable and full-time.

View the Government guidance on alternative provision.

View the Government guidance on education for children with health needs who cannot attend school.

View the summary of responsibilities where a mental health issue is affecting attendance.

The Local Government Ombudsman created a report that summarises the law and provides examples of complaints it has upheld about alternative provision.

In Buckinghamshire the responsibility for arranging alternative provision for children without an EHC plan is delegated to schools. If a school is not doing so for a child without an EHCP, the parent or carer should contact [email protected]

If a school is not arranging necessary alternative provision for a child with an EHCP, the parent or carer should contact their child’s Education, Health and Care Coordinator (EHCo) too.

If you are having difficulty obtaining alternative provision, you can use one of our model letters below to ask Buckinghamshire Council to provide alternative education under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.