Alternative Educational Provision and Care Experienced Young People: An Administrative Data Study in Wales

Abstract

Care experienced young people are at higher risk of poor educational outcomes than other young people, but little is known about the relationship between care experience and attendance at a pupil referral unit (PRU), the most common type of alternative educational provision in Wales. This study explored how the type of care experience that a young person has is related to the likelihood of them attending a PRU or other alternative provision. Education data covering the population of Wales was used to create a cohort of young people who were in their last year of compulsory education (aged 15–16) between 2018/2019 and 2020/2021 (n = 93,012). This was linked to data from social care to identify if these young people had ever been in care or in receipt of other social care services. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models were used to compare the likelihood of being in a PRU according to a young person's care experience. Sub-group models were used to compare the relative impact of care experience on being in a PRU for girls and boys. Findings show that the odds of being in a PRU were over twice as high for those young people who entered care after the age of 11 compared to those who had not been in care once Special Educational Needs and exclusion history were controlled for. The percentage of girls in a PRU who were care experienced was higher than the percentage of boys. These findings highlight the need for staff in PRUs to be aware of the increased likelihood of children's services involvement in planning for young people.