Pupil referral units (PRUs) and alternative education provision; a think piece on making a case for parental choice for children with SEND

Parental choice remains a central theme in education policy in England. Parents have the right to choose how their children are educated. For some families this choice is surrendered, with volition and intention, to their local authority which allocates school places after parents, statutory guardians and families have made their decisions. Where applicable, after parents have selected mainstream education for children with SEND, their child might be evaluated, and a recommendation made for their child to undergo a managed move; typically to join a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) or Alternative Provision (AP). In this think piece, we advocate for PRUs and APs to sit alongside mainstream and special education schools to offer a more balanced first choice for parents. This means PRUs and APs are not ‘othered’ in this choice offer for parents. There are academic, psycho-social, emotional, well-being and self-affirming complexities which could, and quite frankly, tend to result in the pupils and students accessing settings such as these which appear to be othered in this way.