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File on 4: Outclassed: The Kids Excluded from School

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Outclassed: The Kids Excluded from School

21/02/2017

BBC Radio 4 - File on 4, Outclassed: The Kids Excluded from School

An investigation into standards in pupil referral units for children excluded from school.

A landmark government review in 2012 of education for excluded pupils was damning. Has this 'flawed system' for some of 'the most vulnerable children in the country' improved?

Over 300,000 children were excluded from school in England and Wales last year - almost 6 thousand of them permanently. 

Many of these children will end up in "alternative provision", sometimes known as pupil referral units (PRUs) - schools for kids that the mainstream can't handle.

But five years on from the Taylor Review, a report that found 'a flawed system' that failed to provide good education and accountability for 'some of the most vulnerable children in the country' - has anything really changed?

File on 4 hears allegations of a system under pressure; of illegal exclusions, 'missing kids' and how some schools are controversially manipulating league tables through 'managed moves'. 

We also hear from whistle-blowers from one school who claim an overburdened system and a rise of referrals of kids with extreme and complex needs have led to an increase in the use of physical restraint to manage escalating violent behaviour in classrooms."

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg
Producer: Alys Harte.

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Outclassed: The Kids Excluded from School

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