Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 39
39
Accepted
Paragraph: 96
The Department must take overall responsibility for monitoring the register of children not in school,...
Recommendation
The Department must take overall responsibility for monitoring the register of children not in school, and must set out clear and robust accountability for local authorities who fail to secure full-time places at good or outstanding DfE registered schools for the children they are responsible for looking after.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states that looked-after children have priority in school admissions and that guidance prioritises schools judged to be good or outstanding, unless there are exceptional evidence-based reasons.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
96
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
107. As set out in the response to other recommendations above, looked-after children have priority in school admissions and statutory guidance for VSHs states that, when arranging a looked after child’s education placement, schools judged by Ofsted to be ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ should be prioritised. There may be circumstances where it may be more appropriate that a looked after child is not placed in a school judged by Ofsted to be ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’, for example, where a school judged ‘Requiring Improvement’ is evidenced to be providing high-quality support to its vulnerable pupils. However, the guidance is clear that unless there are exceptional evidence-based reasons, looked after children should never be placed in a school judged by Ofsted to be ‘Inadequate’.
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