Schools causing concern
Statutory guidance on local authorities' and regional directors' responsibilities relating to schools and PRUs causing concern.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance describes how:
- local authorities and regional directors will intervene in underperforming local-authority-maintained schools
- regional directors will intervene in underperforming academies
- regional directors will intervene in pupil referral units (PRUs) judged inadequate by Ofsted
PRUs are places that provide education for children who can’t go to a mainstream school.
If you’re a local authority you:
- must follow this statutory guidance by law
- should use this guidance in conjunction with the interim executive board application form
You should also be aware of how this guidance affects your school if you’re part of a:
- diocese
- school foundation
- governing body of maintained schools
- academy trust
Statutory guidance sets out what schools and local authorities must do to comply with the law. You should follow the guidance unless you have a very good reason not to.
Last updated 10 July 2023 + show all updates
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The guidance has been updated to reflect changes to Ofsted’s inspection process in relation to a school judged inadequate solely due to ineffective safeguarding. Changes have also been made to bring text on trust-level intervention (formerly financial intervention in academies) into line with the updated academy trust handbook.
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'Schools causing concern guidance' has been updated to give greater clarity on the operational process the department will follow in relation to the ‘schools not making the necessary improvements’ measure.
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Replaced 2 documents with updated guidance (from 1 September 2022).
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Added the document ‘Schools causing concern: guidance for local authorities and regional directors (from 1 September 2022)’. Changed the name of the existing guidance to include the date it was issued (March 2022).
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Updated guidance to reflect changes to the School Improvement Monitoring and Brokering grant and who can request that a schools academy order is revoked when a school is due to close.
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Updated page 31 of the guidance to provide clarity about the factors the Secretary of State will take into account when considering a request to revoke an academy order.
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Updated guidance to reflect current policy, including: removal of references to coasting and floor standards; how our school support offer will work in 2019 to 2020; how LAs have a legal obligation to inform the department when they use their intervention powers; a new section on academies causing concern; information on financial intervention in academies; and Pupil Referral Unit intervention guidance. No new policy has been introduced that has not already been publicly announced.
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Updated guidance with changes regarding accountability and roles in the schools system.
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Updated to clarify the indicators that are taken into account for warning notices.
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Updated to describe new process for schools that meet the coasting definition.
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Updated page 21 of 'Schools causing concern: guidance for local authorities and RSCs' to cover the use of writing data in 2017.
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Added the 'DfE intervention powers in pupil referral units judged inadequate by Ofsted' document.
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Added revised statutory guidance, which applies from 18 April 2016.
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Added a link to the consultation 'Intervening in failing, underperforming and coasting schools'.
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Updated to describe local authority accountability over governance in maintained schools, and over performance, special educational needs and safeguarding in academies.
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First published.