SEND & Alternative Provision
The children who most need a strong education are too often the ones the system serves least well. Children with special educational…
ExploreAlternative Provision Commissioning & Quality Assurance
When a child is placed in alternative provision, the school or trust remains responsible for their safety, education, and outcomes. Knowing that a provider is safe, suitable, and genuinely educating your pupils is not optional; it is a duty.
We help schools, trusts, and local authorities commission and quality-assure alternative provision with confidence.
What Is Our AP Commissioning Support?
It is support to commission AP well and quality-assure it properly. We carry out checks on providers, help you build a robust quality-assurance framework, and review the education and safeguarding your pupils actually receive while placed there.
The aim is confidence that every AP placement is safe, suitable, and doing right by the child.
Who Is Our AP Commissioning Support For?
It is for schools, trusts, and local authorities that place pupils in alternative provision and want to meet their responsibilities properly. It suits leaders who know that commissioning AP carries real duties they cannot delegate away.
We're here for youNot sure whether this is what you need? Talk it through with us first.
What Does Our AP Commissioning Support Include?
- Checks on AP providers’ safeguarding and safer recruitment
- Review of insurance, health and safety, and compliance
- Assessment of whether provision suits your pupils
- A quality-assurance framework for ongoing oversight
- Review of the education pupils actually receive
- Regular oversight checks for continued assurance
- A clear report on suitability and any concerns
How Does Our AP Commissioning Support Help Your School, Academy, Trust, or Setting?
1
Meet your duty
Placing a child in AP does not transfer your responsibility. We help you meet it properly, with checks that hold up.
2
Check providers thoroughly
Not all AP is safe or suitable. We carry out proper checks, so you know exactly what you are placing children into.
3
Assure safeguarding
Safeguarding in AP is your concern too. We check providers’ arrangements rigorously, because the stakes are high.
4
Assess suitability
AP must suit the individual child. We help you judge whether a placement genuinely fits the pupil’s needs.
5
Build ongoing oversight
One check is not enough. We help you build a framework for continuing quality assurance, not a one-off tick.
6
Review real education
Attendance is not the same as education. We look at whether pupils are genuinely learning while placed.
7
Support LAs and trusts
Whether you commission at scale or place individually, we help you do it safely and consistently.
Book a quick, friendly callTwenty minutes with Shaun, our Founder and CEO, to explore how we can help you.
How Our AP Commissioning Support Works
- 1We agree the scope and the providers or placements to review.
- 2We check providers’ safeguarding, compliance, and suitability.
- 3We assess the education and safety pupils actually receive.
- 4We help you build a framework for ongoing oversight.
- 5We report clearly on suitability and any concerns.
What You Get at the End
- Thorough checks on your AP providers
- Assurance on safeguarding and compliance
- A framework for ongoing quality assurance
- Confidence that placements are safe and suitable
Arrange a chatTell us your timescale and we'll tell you honestly whether we can meet it.
Key Features of Our Service
AP expertise
Our team knows alternative provision and its duties from the inside.
Safeguarding-first
We check the things that keep children safe, rigorously.
Ongoing, not one-off
We help you build continuing oversight, not a single check.
Why Choose Jarvis Education?
We work only in education and understand the duties that come with commissioning alternative provision. Our support helps you place children safely, check providers properly, and maintain real oversight — so every pupil in AP is safe, suitable placed, and genuinely educated, and your responsibilities are fully met.
Next Steps & How to Get Started
- Speak to us about your AP placements and providers.
- We check providers and help you build ongoing assurance.
- Contact us today to commission AP with confidence.
Who We Work With
We support settings of every type across England and internationally.
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Talk to us about Alternative Provision Commissioning & Quality Assurance
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- Initial conversations are always free
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