You are here:
Curriculum provision in PRUs and APs
Pupil referral units (PRUs) and alternative provisions (APs) aren't required to follow the National Curriculum, but they do have to provide a good alternative curriculum. Find out what this includes, and see examples of curriculum offers from other PRUs and APs.
Contents
The National Curriculum doesn't apply for APs and PRUs
This is explained in the DfE's guidance on alternative provision (pages 10 - 12).
A DfE representative confirmed that PRUs aren't required to teach the National Curriculum.
AP settings need to provide a good alternative curriculum
Your curriculum must appropriately meet the needs of pupils and enable them to achieve good educational attainment on par with their mainstream peers.
This is set out in the DfE's guidance on alternative provision (linked to above).
The guidance explains that AP settings should offer challenging teaching in:
- English
- Maths
- Science
- IT
PRUs must provide a 'broad and balanced' curriculum
The DfE representative explained that this should include:
- English
- Maths
- Science
- Computing
- Careers guidance
AP and PRU curriculum examples
Primary PRU
Buckinghamshire Primary PRU teach English and maths lessons daily, all other subjects are taught through termly themes or topics.
Pupils are encouraged to develop skills in:
- ICT, problem solving and thinking
- Social and behavioural learning
- Personal and emotional learning
- Anti-racism: how to review and re-frame your curriculum
- Bloom's Taxonomy: summaries
- Classroom displays: effective practice
- Covering LGBT content in your curriculum
- Curriculum accessibility for pupils with SEND: checklist
- Curriculum audit: gender and LGBTQ+ inclusivity
- Curriculum maps: templates and examples
- English genres in the National Curriculum
- How to design a curriculum
- How to promote British values across your school
- How to review your curriculum
- Implementing a knowledge-rich curriculum
- PE teaching hours: guidance and examples
- Quality first teaching: guidance
- Relationships and sex education (RSE): curriculum audit
- Requests to withdraw a pupil from RE
- School reopening and getting learning back on track: where to start
- Whole-school curriculum audit
- Withdrawing pupils from subjects
More from The Key
Bitesize training with a big impact
Our on-demand training has your whole board covered and lets them learn at a time and pace that suits them.
Help your new governors hit the ground running with our expertly-designed induction training, and our role-specific courses support your link governors develop key skills and confidence in their role.
New eLearning: DSL refresher training
Your DSL’s training should be refreshed at least once every 2 years.
Designed in collaboration with safeguarding experts, our 2.5 hour online refresher training course reminds DSLs how to put their knowledge into practice, with in-depth, real-world scenarios.
- Need-to-know: DfE publishes new statutory guidance on the cost of school uniform 19 Nov 2021 08:51
- Need-to-know: STPCD 2021 published 4 Oct 2021 10:30
- In the news: Your weekly round-up for 20 to 27 August 2021 27 Aug 2021 08:00
- In the news: Your weekly round-up for 6 to 13 August 2021 13 Aug 2021 08:00
- In the news: Your weekly round-up for 30 July to 6 August 2021 6 Aug 2021 08:00
The Key has taken great care in publishing this article. However, some of the article's content and information may come from or link to third party sources whose quality, relevance, accuracy, completeness, currency and reliability we do not guarantee. Accordingly, we will not be held liable for any use of or reliance placed on this article's content or the links or downloads it provides. This article may contain information sourced from public sector bodies and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.