What information is needed before an AP placement starts?

Before an alternative provision placement starts, the provider and commissioner need enough verified information to agree its purpose, assess whether it can meet the child's needs, organise education and support, and act when something goes wrong. Record who supplies each item, what remains uncertain and who resolves it before the proposed start. A completed referral form cannot approve the placement or establish its safety.

This guide is for SENCos, school placement leads and AP providers in England. It offers an editorial readiness checklist, not a statutory form or legal advice. Use it alongside the procedures for the particular placement route and your organisation's commissioning, safeguarding and information-governance arrangements.

First, separate the referral from the placement decision

Identify who is arranging the provision, under which route, and who has authority to decide. The provider explains its offer and whether it can deliver the proposed support. The commissioner checks the proposed provision and retains responsibility for its own decision. Keep provider due diligence and the child-specific suitability assessment alongside the referral, with links to the evidence and outstanding questions.

The Department for Education's Arranging Alternative Provision guidance, updated in February 2025, covers commissioning, induction and information sharing before a placement starts. An approved provider list does not remove the need to check suitability for the individual child. Resolve any provider registration question through the proper commissioning process; learner registration and school attendance arrangements are separate questions.

For non-school AP, DfE's voluntary national standards are explicitly non-statutory. They describe admissions, information and induction expectations. Record any additional local commissioning requirements. A referral checklist is no substitute for the checks those arrangements require.

Use one readiness sheet with six questions

For each question below, add four fields: evidence and source date; person supplying it; unresolved point; action owner and due date. Use clear states such as verified, disputed, awaiting information and not applicable with a reason. A blank box says very little about what anyone has actually checked.

1. What is this placement for? Record the commissioning organisation, decision lead, reason for referral, proposed start, duration and education objectives. Describe what the child wants to achieve and the intended next step. The commissioner and provider should agree what will be reviewed and when, before the record becomes a timetable.
2. What education will happen across the whole week? Set out sessions, locations, curriculum and support. Clarify where education happens outside AP sessions, who manages admission and attendance registers, and how the provider reports participation and non-arrival. Resolve transport, arrival, collection and emergency contacts with the people responsible. Don't treat an unrecorded session as a recorded absence.
3. What helps the child access learning? Ask the SENCo or relevant professional for the applicable SEND plan, adjustments, communication preferences, literacy and learning information, and health arrangements needed for this setting. Distinguish confirmed plans from historic suggestions. The provider should explain how the proposed arrangements can operate, including staff availability, equipment and any further professional advice needed.
4. What do the child and family understand? Record their views, questions, aspirations and disagreement, using accessible communication. Identify who explains the purpose, timetable, support and review process, and how they can correct information. Record a contribution still to obtain as outstanding. Silence does not establish agreement.
5. Who acts on a concern? Confirm the commissioner contact and provider safeguarding lead, reporting routes, non-arrival response and escalation arrangements. Have the appropriate practitioners exchange relevant information securely and confirm receipt. Urgent concerns go through the DSL and local safeguarding procedures immediately; contact emergency services when required. Completing paperwork must never delay that action.
6. What happens during induction and the first review? Agree a welcome, initial assessment, support handover and early contact. Give every unresolved item an owner and deadline. Plan the first review and its evidence: what was offered, delivered and experienced. Keep the longer-term transition or reintegration question visible.

These six questions are a working model. They do not declare that every missing item is equally consequential. The authorised professionals must decide whether a gap can be resolved within agreed arrangements or prevents the proposed start, and record their reasons. Keep a version history when an answer changes.

Test the sheet against an arrival problem

This example is invented to illustrate a pre-start decision; it is not a pupil or customer case study. A referral proposes morning workshop sessions. The school attendance record shows repeated late arrivals. Read alone, that pattern offers little explanation. The support plan records a quieter arrival arrangement, and the transport proposal would reach the provider after the workshop begins.

Bringing attendance, SEND support and the proposed timetable together changes the question: can the agreed arrival support operate at this location and time? The SENCo checks the plan with the child and family. The commissioning lead resolves the transport timing with the responsible organiser. The provider confirms who will receive the child and how the first session will begin. Record each answer and review it after induction.

The records don't prove why the late arrivals occurred, diagnose a need or predict attendance at AP. An agreed arrangement still needs to be delivered and checked with the child. Ofsted's 2024 thematic review reported weaknesses in placement suitability and family involvement in the areas visited. It supports asking these questions; it cannot establish what this particular child needs.

Close the handover with receipt, limits and a decision

Share relevant information with the right recipient through the authorised secure route. Confirm that the receiving practitioner can open and understand it. Record purpose, recipients, lawful basis and the additional conditions needed for sensitive information. Seek advice from the DSL or data protection lead where the sharing decision needs clarification. Consent is not a universal prerequisite or a universal lawful basis.

DfE's information-sharing statutory guidance, updated in September 2026, distinguishes safeguarding information sharing from agreement to receive services. Apply its scope and criteria with the relevant professionals. It does not give every referral recipient unrestricted access to a child's whole record.

End the sheet with the authorised decision, the evidence considered, unresolved points, responsibility for follow-up and the next review. If the proposed start cannot proceed, the commissioner must address the child's education arrangements through the applicable route. An administrative hold must not leave that question unanswered.

Student Radar's Alternative Provision workspace supports internal referral and placement records. Its school-side funding and alternative provision workflow provides a separate destination for placement oversight. In a walkthrough, check how your authorised staff retain the referral, uncertainties and follow-up. Confirm which school, commissioner and parent roles can access each record before relying on a shared workflow. Software cannot certify suitability, approve information sharing or replace the commissioning decision.

Once the placement begins, use a placement-review evidence pack to examine what happened against the agreed plan. Readiness is the starting record; delivery and the child's experience remain questions for the review.

Sources and further reading

• DfE: Arranging Alternative Provision, updated 5 February 2025, especially commissioning and induction, pages 14 to 19.
• DfE: Non-school alternative provision voluntary national standards, 31 August 2025, especially admissions and records, standards 3.1 to 3.3.
• DfE: Information sharing to safeguard children and young people, updated 10 September 2026.
• Ofsted: Alternative provision in local areas in England, a thematic review, 1 February 2024.