Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupil referral units have applied to convert to academy status in each of the last five years; and how many pupil referral units have converted to (a) alternative provision academies and (b) other forms of special school in that same period.

Between 2013 and 2018 70 Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) have applied to convert to academy status, as shown in table 1 below. Please note that schools may apply more than once. Where this has been the case, we have taken the most recent application date.

During the same period, 76 PRUs have converted to alternative provision academies, as shown below. No PRU has opened as any other form of special school.

Table 1. Number of Pupil Referral Units that applied to convert to an academy, and number of PRUs opened as alternative provision academies 2013-2018

Source: Internal Management Information and Get Information about Schools extract (January 2018).

[1] This includes PRUs that converted as either a sponsored or converter alternative provision academy and some may not have submitted an application.