400 per cent: Boom in alternative education referrals for young SEND pupils in Nottinghamshire

The striking figures, showing a ‘fundamental shift’ in demand for children and young people accessing alternative provision (AP) arrangements outside of ‘mainstream’ education, were presented to Nottinghamshire Council members in a December cabinet meeting.

AP refers to education arranged by local authorities outside of the mainstream school setting due to a child being unwell, excluded, having behavioural issues or other needs.

It can be provided in mainstream schools, non-school settings, online and at home.

These arrangements are not just exclusive to young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legal documents detailing the required support for a young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) – but are a common option for children with SEND.

Since 2022, the total number of new referrals for young people with an EHCP to access AP has increased by 381 percent.

For 2022 to 2023, the figure for these new referrals stood at 90, increasing to 191 in 2023 to 2024, 341 for 2024 to 2025 and sits at 433 in the council’s most up-to-date data running from April 1, 2025, until September 8, 2025 – and the current financial year has not yet finished.

For children and young people without an EHCP, the total number of AP placements commissioned for students has more than doubled. In 2021 to 2022 there were 302, rising to 705 in 2024 to 2025, following a small decline from 754 in 2023 to 2024.

The authority’s most recent data, as at October 27, 2025, shows that 73 per cent of the 906 young people with alternative provision and being educated other than at school, including those with SEND, have so in an ‘unregistered’ setting, meaning not subject to Ofsted inspections.

Nottinghamshire mum, Jess, said her nine-year-old son is currently only receiving two hours of online alternative provision a week through the ‘MindJam’ mentoring and gaming platform and will be starting children’s sensory therapy sessions soon which will include English.

Her son has autism and has been out of school since October 2025 due to him entering burnout from the mainstream school setting.

The mum says her son is on the wait list for a Forest School and will potentially access school via a robot from January, where he will be able to communicate and talk through this and have a tablet for his education.

She said she is ‘not satisfied’ with the level of her son’s current AP, saying: “Anyone dealing with the EHCP process aren’t feeling like we’re getting any support, it’s a constant fight, a constant battle.

“AP is not an education – the alternative of someone who can’t access mainstream school is a specialist school.

“It’s like children aren’t fitting in that box, so the council put them in this box – are these kids getting the right attention?

“It’s only two hours a week.

"He’s missing socialisation, any sort of light-hearted conversation.

"He will tick a box as a criteria for accessing AP but that can look different for each kid.”

Jess’ son’s EHCP took nearly 60 weeks to be agreed – over the 20-week target date.

She says if this was completed per the timescale her son may have avoided burnout in his mainstream school, had his needs addressed sooner and his grades would not have slipped.

The council has worked to improve its EHCP process.

Figures from October, based on September 2025 data, showed 47.3 per cent of EHCPs were completed within the 20-week statutory timescale, compared to 28 per cent in 2023 and just 4.5 per cent of new EHCPs issued within 20 weeks during 2022.

This improvement was driven by changes within the structures of parts of the SEND service and recruiting and retaining more educational psychologists.

The clear rise in demand for AP is not the only increase.

The total spend for it rose from £2,578,399 in 2022/23 to £7,567,007 in 2024/25 for those with an EHCP.

The provision for those without an EHCP cost £2,739,303 in 2022/23 and rose to £8,434,116 in 2024/25.

AP placements are funded from the council’s ‘high needs block’ and documents show the yearly spend for it may increase from £16m to £20m going forward.

In light of the pot of funding, the council is currently forecast to overspend by £35.9m in 2025-26 but the authority currently has a ‘statutory override’ which ends in March 2028.

This override allows councils, temporarily, to not have to address large financial deficits when balancing their budgets.

Speaking in December’s cabinet meeting, Coun Sue Saddington (Con), said the cost of the provision rising to a potential £20m a year was ‘not an incremental growth’ but a ‘fundamental shift in demand’.

She said: “History shows that once councils enter the override, getting out is extremely difficult – we cannot assume it will simply resolve itself.

“The Reform administration has suggested it intends to make around £3m of savings from this department – the two positions cannot both be true.

“If demand is rising and overspends are forecast to grow, residents deserve a clear and honest explanation of how £3m of savings can be delivered without reducing provision.”

The cabinet agreed on the recommissioning of AP services in the December meeting to help respond to the ‘upward trend’ in young people accessing it and to address challenges within the existing alternative provisions.

This is set to launch for September 2026.

Coun Hana John (Ref), cabinet member for education and SEND, said in the meeting providers had found the old process ‘too bureaucratic’, and a ‘blended approach will soon take place for commissioning specialist education.

Five distinct categories are included in the new framework, such as individual placement agreements, block booking arrangements, online providers accredited by the Department for Education, one-to-one tutor options and Government-registered providers that offer full-time provision.

Councillors were also given assurance monitoring of children – to assess the appropriateness of their AP– will be continued in the new framework.

The council was contacted for comment.