Local authorities have a statutory duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging suitable full-time education for permanently excluded pupils, and for other pupils who – because of illness or other reasons – would not receive suitable education without such provision.

Although not its sole use, the majority of pupils who require access to AP are for those who are displaying high levels of Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, in order to reduce their current barriers to education that they are experiencing. This could range from pupils displaying behaviours that challenge, to anxiety leading to reduced ability to leaving their home.

This duty can be exercised by using the following types of providers:

• AP Schools (also known as Pupil Referral Units – PRUs) are schools which are registered with the DfE and inspected by Ofsted.
• Independent APs are also registered schools; however, they are independent from the areas local offer.
• Unregistered APs are providers which are not registered with DfE, therefore are also classed as unregulated provision. These providers offer part time provision, often focussed on supporting particular areas such as pupil interests or social and emotional support.

When considering the current requirements around what is classed as full-time provision, the Education and Skills Act 2008 refers to part time in sub-section (2) as:

• at least 12.5 hours a week, for at least 28 weeks, during an academic year at the end of which the person is under the age of 12, or
• at least 15 hours a week, for at least 28 weeks, during an academic year at the end of which the person is aged 12 or over.

All pupils have the right to access to full time education, therefore if a school commissions places at an unregistered AP, the school must ensure that there is a full-time package of education in place, unless a pupil’s medical condition makes full time provision inappropriate.

Providers of part-time AP are not required to register with any authority, and they are able to operate in whatever form they like so long as they comply with relevant legislation around health and safety, safeguarding etc. However, Torbay Council carry out a Quality Assurance process on all unregistered AP commissioned by the LA for the purposes of providing education packages.

For schools who directly commission AP, each school or Trust have their own due diligence processes in place to check suitability and safety of the providers that they use. Many schools within Torbay are reassured by the QA process that is carried out by Torbay Council, however this does not remove their own responsibility to carry out due diligence, evidence of which will be requested from Ofsted when they carry out an inspection at the school.