On our illness and school anxiety pages, we explain when the local authority (LA) will have a legal duty to put in place suitable, alternative education under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.  On our exclusion pages, we also explain when this legal duty is also triggered.

Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 says that your LA has a legal duty to secure suitable, full-time alternative education for any child of compulsory school age who would not otherwise receive it due to illness, exclusion or any another reason. If alternative education is needed for a reason other than exclusion or illness, then case law says the LA’s duty will apply if it is not reasonably possible for a child to take up any existing suitable schooling (which must be looked at objectively, and in light of all the issues). It is not limited, then, to children with health needs or who have been excluded. It can be triggered in other situations, for example if your child does not have a school place.

There is statutory guidance called Arranging Alternative Provision, A Guide for Local Authorities and Schools, which sets out how and when LAs should put in place alternative education (which it calls alternative provision). This means that the LA must have regard to it and should follow it unless there is good reason not to.

Here we explain what alternative education must be put in place, and what you can do if it is not, or you do not think the arrangement is suitable or sufficient.

Consulting with parents

Before a child starts alternative education under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, parents should always be consulted with.

Children should also be involved in decision making from the start (to the extent that their age and health allow for it). This is on page 10 of the alternative provision guidance.

When your LA consults with you, say what education you think your child needs, and your child’s views (if they are able to give these). If you are not happy with what your LA is proposing, say so and why.

Education must be suitable

Alternative education does not have to be the same as the education that could be provided in a school, but it must still be suitable to your child’s age, ability and aptitude, and any special educational needs (SEN) they have.

Children who have been excluded from school often attend a pupil referral unit or an alternative provision setting. Children with health challenges are more likely to receive home tuition or sometimes receive education in hospital. The guidance says that all children, regardless of circumstance or setting, should expect to receive a good education (page 6 of the alternative provision guidance).

The education provided should support your child to overcome their individual barriers to attainment and achievement, giving equal consideration to their pastoral needs, and enabling them to thrive and prosper in the education system (page 17 of the guidance).

Your LA should:

• ensure that the education is of good quality, registered where appropriate, and delivered by high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks (page 6 of the alternative provision guidance)
• when identifying any placement, always consider the individual circumstances of your child and whether the setting is appropriate (page 14 of the alternative provision guidance), and
• if your child has an EHC plan, make sure that the special educational provision set out in Section F continues to be delivered (page 13 of the alternative provision guidance).

If your child requires alternative education due to health needs, then your LA should also:

• have regard to statutory guidance called Education for children with health needs who cannot attend school
• work closely with your child’s school, medical professionals (such as a GP or consultant) and you to minimise the disruption to your child’s education by identifying the most suitable provision for them
• consider liaising with other medical practitioners and consider other evidence if specific medical evidence is not readily available, to ensure suitable provision is arranged as soon as possible
• not demand continuing evidence from a medical professional without good reason, even where a child has long-term health issues (page 8 of the health guidance), and
• should regularly review the education to ensure it remains suitable, alongside and involving your child’s school, you and relevant professionals (including medical practitioners where possible and the LA’s SEN team if the child has an EHC plan) (page 11 of the health guidance).

If you feel your child’s needs are not being met by the alternative education put in place or it is not suitable, then tell your LA.

You can adapt our template letter 22 to explain that the education being provided is not suitable, and why. If your child has an EHC plan, and is not receiving their special educational provision, you should also explain that.

Education must be full-time

The education provided must be full-time, unless due to your child’s physical or mental health it would not be in their best interests for it to be full-time (section 19(3A)-(3AA) of the Education Act 1996).

The term “full-time” is not legally defined, and some LAs are unwilling to provide anything other than a very small amount of home tuition. However, the alternative education guidance says alternative education “should offer good quality education equivalent to that provided in mainstream (or special) schools” (page 17 of the guidance).

The alternative provision guidance also says:

• full and part-time education should still aim to achieve good academic attainment particularly in English and maths, and
• where education is part-time or temporary, to help minimise disruption to a child’s education, the education should complement and align with the child’s current curriculum, timetable and qualification route (page 18).

For children with health challenges, the health guidance also says:

• children with health needs should have provision, where possible, which is equivalent to the education they would receive in a mainstream school (page 9). If, for example, a child receives one-to-one tuition, the hours of face-to-face provision could be fewer as the education may be more intensive (page 10), and
• any part-time education should be reviewed regularly, with the aim of eventually increasing the number of hours up to full-time as soon as the child’s health allows (page 10).

If you feel your child’s education is not in line with these points, then tell your LA. You can adapt our template letter 22 to explain why.

For more information on the duty to arrange alternative education, please see our case law pages. You can also contact us for more support.