Pupil Referral Units
Early Insights 2024-2025
Teaching and learning
Overall, we saw improvements in the teaching and learning experiences for pupils who attend PRUs. The curriculum offer is purposeful, with pupils contributing to what and how they learn. Teaching staff are highly flexible in meeting a wide range of pupil needs. Staff have effective professional learning opportunities to maintain their skilful approaches to meet the learning, behavioural, emotional and social needs of their pupils. Challenges remain in recruiting specialist staff to ensure enough breadth of qualifications pathways and continuity for Welsh-speaking pupils.
What’s going well
- In the strongest provision, staff have a deep pedagogical understanding, with clear leadership underpinned by highly effective pupil and staff working relationships.
- Many staff are effective role models, with high and consistent expectations for pupil behaviour and learning.
- Pupils make highly effective progress towards meeting their targets, develop strong independent skills and engage in their learning with enthusiasm and confidence.
- Pupils’ progress is supported by a purposeful curriculum, where pupils are actively engaged in choosing and directing their own learning.
What needs to improve
- In a minority of PRUs, where the quality of teaching and assessment is inconsistent and expectations are too low, this limits pupils’ engagement and progress.
- Across most PRUs, difficulties in recruiting subject specialists limit the breadth and quality of qualification pathways available.
- Provision for pupils from Welsh-medium schools to continue their education in Welsh is too inconsistent, limiting their ability to maintain language continuity.
Well-being, care, support and guidance
In nearly all PRUs, pupil well-being is central to the work of staff. Staff are highly trained and develop a strong understanding of the needs of their pupils. Staff provide highly effective role models for pupils and provide safe and nurturing learning environments where pupils have a key influence in decision-making. However, too many pupils remain on part-time timetables for too long and too few return to mainstream education.
What’s going well
- Staff develop highly effective working relationships with pupils and forge trusting relationships where pupils feel safe and well supported.
- Safeguarding arrangements in nearly all PRUs are robust.
- Where pupil voice is integral to the day to day running of the PRU, pupils develop effective skills, which support them when they leave the provision.
- Nearly all PRUs provide valuable support and information for pupils who transition to further education, training or employment.
What needs to improve
- Attendance in many PRUs remains low, especially for secondary phase pupils with social emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, and educational gaps impact negatively.
- Too few pupils return to mainstream education from PRUs and most PRUs are functioning as long-term special school settings for a proportion of their pupils.
- In a minority of PRUs, too many pupils remained on part-time timetables for too long.
Leading and improving
Across the PRUs inspected, leadership is showing improvement. Where there is stable leadership, there are usually well-embedded self-evaluation practices based on effective stakeholder engagement. Leaders in these PRUs have well-established practices to drive improvement.
What’s going well
- In the most effective practice, leadership is stable, with a well-understood vision and ethos, underpinning the work of all staff.
- In a majority of PRUs, staff have clear roles and responsibilities and are fully involved in self-evaluation processes to drive improvement at the PRU.
- In most PRUs, purposeful professional development is in place for all staff and supports staff to respond to the changing pupil needs.
- In many PRUs, leaders develop strong working relationships with a wide variety of partner agencies, reflecting the needs of their pupils, families and carers robustly.
- Where there is a collegiate working relationship between leaders, the management committee and the local authority, this shared support provides clarity in the purpose of the PRU.
What needs to improve
- In a few PRUs, the management committee does not provide sufficiently robust support and challenge to leaders, and this limits the effectiveness of leadership.
- In a few PRUs, staff engagement in self-evaluation processes is at an early stage and not yet developed well enough to drive improvement.
- Increased pupil numbers in a majority of PRUs impact negatively on learning environments.
Overview of recommendations from inspections
There were five providers inspected in the PRU sector during 2024-2025.
Three providers (60%) were given recommendations related to teaching and learning, two of which were in a follow-up category.
- All three providers had a recommendation to improve the quality and consistency of teaching and learning to secure pupils’ progress in learning
Two providers (40%) were given recommendations related to well-being, care, support, and guidance, both of which were in a follow-up category.
- Both providers had a recommendation to improve attendance, with the provider in FU to consider including access to full-time education for all pupils
- One provider had a recommendation to develop arrangements for pupils’ leadership opportunities to support pupils to become independent learners
Three providers (60%) were given recommendations related to leading and improving, two of which were in a follow-up category.
- Three providers received a recommendation to strengthen leadership at all levels
- Two received a recommendation to develop strategic leadership to ensure the effectiveness of self-evaluation and improvement planning
Effective practice identified during inspection
Teaching and learning
Canolfan Bro Tywi in Carmarthenshire
Inspection report: Canolfan Bro Tywi in Carmarthenshire
Canolfan Bro Tywi in Carmarthenshire Improving engagement in writing
Well-being, care, support and guidance
Tai Educational Centre in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Inspection report: Tai Educational Centre in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Tai Educational Centre in Rhondda Cynon Taf Developing pupils’ emotional intelligence
Leading and improving
The Bridge Alternative Provision in Bridgend
Inspection report: The Bridge Alternative Provision in Bridgend
The Bridge Alternative Provision in Bridgend Ensuring an inclusive and equitable curriculum offer for all pupils