Excluded pupils facing education divide in parts of Yorkshire, think-tank warns

The national study, from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), looked at outcomes for young people who attend education outside of mainstream schooling known as alternative provision (AP), because of exclusion, behaviour issues, or illness.

Sheffield is among five areas across the country with the poorest prospects for these young people, it found, with just one in 50 excluded pupils in the area passing their maths and English GCSEs in state-run institutions.

Nationwide, the report concludes, there is a stark north-south divide in terms of quality of provision, as these findings are echoed across the North East compared to Greater London where one in 12 pupils achieve a pass.

Not a single pupil excluded from state secondary schools passed their GCSE maths and English in 13 local authority areas over the last three years, the research additionally found.

“The findings of this report are quite shocking,” Andy Cook, chief executive of the CSJ. “The north-south divide of outcomes for excluded children should be of grave concern to the Government.

“Excluded children need more oversight than their mainstream counterparts not less. But this report demonstrates that at every level this is not the case. The Government must invest in spreading good practice and establishing clear benchmarks for the sector.

“Society will pay a heavy price for ignoring the needs of young people and letting so many leave 13 years of full-time education with little or nothing to show for it.”

The CSJ, drawing up a ‘league table’ of the best and worst-performing local authorities, looked at Ofsted rankings, exam results, absence rates, levels of qualified teachers, and outcomes for pupils such as holding down a job, apprenticeship or college place.

Sheffield is among the five worst areas in the UK for excluded pupils hoping to salvage their prospects, the report concludes, with none served by an institution rated ‘Good ‘or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, and with attendance low at just 60 per cent.

The other areas dubbed ‘cold spots’ by the CSJ are Tameside, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, and Newcastle.

Setting out suggestions for change, the CSJ calls for a review of the funding formula, an improvement fund to pilot schemes for best practice, investment in a workforce programme to encourage talented teachers to work in the sector, and better data collection on outcomes for pupils.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are taking forward an ambitious programme of action on school behaviour and will rapidly improve the availability of good alternative provision schools so that children attending them have opportunities to succeed.

“Our immediate priority is ensuring all vulnerable children including those in alternative provision stay safe during the Covid-19 outbreak,” they added.

“But we will continue to work with the sector to make improvements to the system so that all children, no matter what setting they are in, to receive a world class education.”

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