How to Set Up Alternative Provision in England: A Guide

2026年10月18日

For education founders in England

To set up alternative provision in England, first decide which legal route you are on: a state-funded AP free school, a registered independent school, or unregistered (non-school) provision; then build around the local authority and schools that will commission and pay for places, because almost no AP runs on parents’ fees. The route is set mainly by one test from the Department for Education (DfE): whether you give full-time education to five or more children of compulsory school age, or to even one child with an EHC plan or in local authority care.

This guide covers England only; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules. Everything below comes from DfE guidance on gov.uk, listed at the bottom. Where the official pages give no number, this guide says so instead of guessing.

In this article

What counts as alternative provision
The three routes compared
When you must register as an independent school
Who pays for alternative provision
How to set up alternative provision, step by step
How much does it cost, and how long does it take?
What is changing for unregistered provision
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Questions and answers

What counts as alternative provision

A woman in her forties plans an alternative provision at a desk by a window in a quiet, bare room in England (illustrative image) — Most of the early work is on paper: which children you will serve, which route you are on, and who will commission the places. (Illustrative image)

DfE’s statutory guidance Arranging Alternative Provision (February 2025) defines AP as education arranged by local authorities for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not otherwise receive suitable education. Schools also use AP for pupils on a suspension, and when they direct a pupil off-site to improve their behaviour.

Elective home education and “education otherwise than at school” (EOTAS) for some children with special educational needs are not AP under that guidance. So if parents alone choose and pay for your sessions, you may be running something else, such as tuition, under different rules.

The scale is real, as DfE’s own figures show:

17,327children in school-arranged unregistered AP placements (Jan 2025)

10,333children in local authority arranged placements (Jan 2025)

18 hoursa week: the point at which DfE generally treats daytime provision as full-time

6 months+DfE’s advice on how long to allow for independent school registration

Sources: DfE, Strengthening protections in non-school alternative provision (August 2025); DfE, Registration of independent schools (September 2026).

The three routes compared

For a founder outside the state system there are three routes. Pupil referral units (PRUs) and in-school units are run by local authorities and schools, so they are not routes you open alone.

	AP free school	Registered independent school (independent AP)	Unregistered (non-school) AP
What it is	A state-funded academy, run by an academy trust, opened through DfE’s central free schools programme	A private school registered with DfE that takes pupils placed by local authorities and schools	A setting that is not a school, offering part-time or time-limited education, training or support
Who decides	DfE approves applications in application rounds	DfE registers the school after an Ofsted pre-registration inspection	No national registration; local authorities and schools decide whether to use you
Standards	A funding agreement with DfE, as an academy	Independent School Standards (ISS); regular inspection	Local quality assurance frameworks and approved lists; national standards planned
How it is paid	Place funding plus top-up from commissioners	Fees locally negotiated with each commissioner	Fees locally negotiated with each commissioner
Main limit	The last AP application round closed on 17 February 2023	Must meet the ISS before opening	Must not reach the independent school definition

The 2022 AP free school round asked for partnerships of one lead applicant (an academy trust, or a new proposer who must form one first) and at least one local authority. It closed on 17 February 2023, and no newer AP round appears on gov.uk, so treat this as a route to watch.

When you must register as an independent school

Under the Education Act 1996, an independent school is a school, not maintained by a local authority and not a non-maintained special school, at which full-time education is provided for:

five or more pupils of compulsory school age; or
one or more such pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan; or
one or more such pupils who are looked after by a local authority.

Such a setting must be registered before it operates. Running an unregistered independent school is an offence under section 96 of the Education and Skills Act 2008, punishable by an unlimited fine and/or up to six months’ imprisonment, even while an application is in progress.

What “full-time” means

There is no statutory definition. DfE says it would consider a setting full-time if it is intended to provide, or does provide, all or substantially all of a child’s education, and that generally any institution operating during the day for 18 hours or more a week is providing full-time education. Below 18 hours is not automatically part-time. DfE lists the factors it weighs:

whether the provision in practice prevents full-time education being given elsewhere;
the hours per week, including breaks and independent study time;
the time of day;
the number of weeks in the term or year.

The AP guidance adds that commissioners should not place a child with an unregistered provider if that would mean the setting needed to register. The test covers all the children you take, not one placement. If unsure, DfE advises taking your own legal advice.

Who pays for alternative provision

Most AP is paid for by a commissioner, not by parents. There are two main commissioners:

Local authorities. Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 they must arrange suitable and normally full-time education for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not otherwise receive it.
Schools. Governing bodies must arrange suitable full-time education from the sixth (or earlier) school day of a suspension, and schools may direct pupils off-site to improve their behaviour.

DfE’s guidance describes three ways AP settings receive money:

Funding stream	Who receives it	Where it comes from
Place funding	PRUs, AP academies and AP free schools	A set amount per place: GBP 10,000 per place in 2026 to 2027, from the local authority (PRUs) or the Education and Skills Funding Agency (academies and free schools)
Top-up funding	The same settings, for each child placed	The commissioning local authority’s high needs budget, or the commissioning school
Locally negotiated funding	Independent AP, and services such as outreach	Agreed between commissioner and provider, often under a service level agreement

For independent and unregistered providers the third row applies: there is no national fee rate, only what you agree with each commissioner. That is why your first conversation should be with them.

Want to build a school for children school is not working for?

NIJIN Academy is an alternative school in Japan, opened in September 2023 and run by NIJIN Inc. Children join from home through a metaverse campus, choose from about 100 live online classes a month, and can also go to 52 physical classrooms across Japan. NIJIN is looking for a Country Head for the UK: one person to start and lead NIJIN Academy UK as both its business head and its principal. It is not a franchise. You would hold 20% of a local company set up together with NIJIN.

Two ways to start: co-found the local company and hold shares (for example, 20% for you and 80% for NIJIN), or start on a service contract, even as a side job alongside your current work. Investment is optional. Either way, the compensation guide is the same: 10% of revenue (excluding tax), not a guaranteed income.

See the Country Head role in the UK

How to set up alternative provision, step by step

Two education professionals review a placement plan together at a meeting table in a plain local authority office in England (illustrative image) — Commissioners decide whether you get placements, so meet the local authority and nearby schools before you sign a lease. (Illustrative image)

The order below works for the registered and the unregistered routes. Steps 5 and 6 apply only if you will register as an independent school.

Name the children and the gap. Ages, needs, and why mainstream is not working, in one sentence a head teacher recognises.
Talk to commissioners first. Ask the local authority and nearby schools what they cannot currently place, and how they quality assure providers. Many areas keep approved lists.
Choose your route with the registration test. Plan your hours, number of children and intake against the definition above. If your plan crosses it, you are an independent school.
Set up the organisation and safeguarding. Choose a legal form with professional advice. Commissioners should get written confirmation from you that safeguarding checks have been carried out on staff, the same checks schools carry out, and that you will tell them of changes such as new staff.
If registering: prepare the ISS documents. The application needs, among other things, a plan of the premises, a curriculum policy with schemes of work for every year group, a framework for assessing pupils, and policies on behaviour, safeguarding, health and safety, anti-bullying and complaints.
If registering: apply, then be inspected. Apply on gov.uk. DfE checks the proprietor, then Ofsted carries out a pre-registration inspection. The premises must already be ready, or nearly ready, when it happens.
Agree each placement properly. Commissioners should agree a plan with you, hold reviews at least half-termly, and require you to report absences. A child directed off-site to an AP school is dual registered from the first day.
Open small and keep records. Commissioners should always know where a child is during school hours, so keep attendance and progress records from day one.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

No official source gives a typical cost to set up alternative provision, so this guide does not give one. What the gov.uk pages do confirm is this:

Item	What DfE guidance says
DfE registration	No fee is payable to DfE to register an independent school
Ofsted pre-registration inspection	A fixed fee, paid to Ofsted, charged whether or not registration succeeds. Fees are set in regulations and subject to change; DfE consulted on raising them in late 2025 and had not published the outcome at the time of writing
Inspections after opening	The first standard inspection takes place in the first year, then normally every three years, with fees on a sliding scale by pupil numbers
Time to register	Allow at least six months from a complete application; some take longer and DfE cannot give an estimate
Unregistered route	No national process or timescale; it depends on each local authority’s quality assurance

Build the rest from local quotes: premises, staff and their checks, insurance, and running costs until placements arrive. The microschool guide sets out a one-page break-even method that works for small AP too.

What is changing for unregistered provision

In its August 2025 consultation response, the government said it now calls this sector “non-school alternative provision” and that it intends to legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to:

introduce mandatory national standards for non-school AP;
make local authorities quality assure providers against those standards and publish local directories of approved provision;
require schools to tell the local authority about every placement they commission;
make placements time-limited, with children kept on a school roll and given a plan to return.

So design an unregistered setting now as a time-limited intervention alongside school, and check gov.uk for the current position before you open: that document set no date.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Everything above is English law and DfE guidance. DfE’s registration page applies to England only and points schools in Wales to the Welsh Government’s own guidance. Scotland and Northern Ireland also run their own education systems. Start with gov.wales, gov.scot or the Department of Education in Northern Ireland, and ask the local education body how placements work there.

Leading a school, not just a provision

A male mentor in his thirties works with two teenagers on laptops in a small, calm learning room in England, seen from behind (illustrative image) — Small groups and adults who know each child are at the heart of good alternative provision, whatever the route. (Illustrative image)

Many people searching for how to set up alternative provision have run teams in schools, charities or businesses. Setting up alone means writing every policy and carrying every risk yourself.

NIJIN Academy UK would be a different shape. NIJIN describes NIJIN Academy as one of the largest alternative schools in Japan, with more than 1,000 students enrolled since 2023 (cumulative). NIJIN plans to set up a UK company with one Country Head, who holds 20% of the shares; NIJIN holds 80%. As a guide, the Country Head invests JPY 1 to 2 million and NIJIN JPY 4 to 8 million, with exact amounts agreed together. Compensation, as a guide, is 10% of revenue excluding tax, capped at JPY 50 million; it is not a guarantee of income. Teaching experience is not required; leadership, management, business ability and a principal’s skills are. The legal route and location are worked out together, and other terms are to be discussed in the interview.

	Set up alone	Buy a franchise	Co-found NIJIN Academy UK
Ownership	100% yours	Yours, under licence terms	20% yours, 80% NIJIN, in a local company
Model	You design it	You copy a set format	A working hybrid model, adapted to the UK with you
Your role	Everything	Operator	Business head and principal

Questions and answers

How do I set up an unregistered alternative provision?

Keep below the independent school definition, then apply to your local authority’s quality assurance framework or approved list. Commissioners should check your safeguarding, premises and education before placing children.

How much does it cost to set up an alternative provision?

There is no official figure. DfE charges no registration fee; Ofsted charges a fixed fee for the pre-registration inspection. Premises, staff and insurance depend on your area.

How long does it take to set up an alternative provision?

For an independent school, DfE advises allowing at least six months from a complete application, and some take longer. You cannot operate before registration. For unregistered provision there is no national timescale.

Who pays for alternative provision?

Usually the local authority, under its section 19 duty, or the school that commissions the placement. State AP schools get GBP 10,000 per place in 2026 to 2027 plus top-up funding; independent providers negotiate fees with each commissioner.

Can I open an alternative provision free school?

Only through a DfE application round. The last AP round closed on 17 February 2023; watch the gov.uk free schools pages for a new one.

I am looking for alternative provision jobs. Is the Country Head role a job or a business?

It is a founding role in a business. You would co-own the local company (20%) and lead it as business head and principal. Pay is, as a guide, 10% of revenue, so there is no fixed salary. If you want to lead rather than join a provision, read the role.

Lead NIJIN Academy in the UK

NIJIN is looking for one person to start and lead NIJIN Academy UK as its business head and principal. It is not a franchise: you co-found a local company and hold 20%. Teaching experience is not required.

See the Country Head role in the UK

Where to go next

NIJIN Academy Country Head pages are open for several countries, and the global page covers every other country.

Related guides for founders

Sources

Checked in October 2026. Guidance and fees change, so please check the originals before acting. This article is general information, not legal advice.