Title: Leaving a pupil referral unit: Exploring the transitions and post-16 destinations of care experienced young people across Wales
Funder: Health and Care Research Wales (Welsh Government)

Abstract: Despite the Welsh Government’s commitment to school inclusion in recent years (Welsh Government, 2016) and the educational support of care experienced young people (Mannay et al, 2015), rates of school exclusion have risen (Welsh Government, 2019a). Consequently, the number of young people taught in alternative provision, including pupil referral units (PRUs) has increased. Care experienced young people are over-represented in PRUs (McCluskey et al, 2015), which is particularly pertinent as PRU pupils have lower educational outcomes than their peers in mainstream schools (National Assembly for Wales, 2019). PRU learners also struggle to maintain their post-16 education, training or work placements (Wilcock, 2020) and are therefore at increased risk of poor mental health, unemployment and criminal exploitation (Gill et al, 2017; Maxwell et al, 2019). As exclusion rates rise in Wales, this project will offer new insight into the factors associated with care experienced young people being excluded from mainstream schools. It will then examine how PRUs support these pupils with their career aspirations and post-16 transitions, tracking a small group of young people into their post-16 destinations. The following questions support the aims of this study: 1. What are the key factors that lead to school exclusion for care experienced young people? 2. What support is available to care experienced young people in PRUs to prepare them for post-16 transitions into further education, employment or training? 3. What facilitators and barriers do care experienced young people in PRUs encounter with post-16 pathways into education, employment or training? 4. What are the career aspirations of care experienced PRU learners and what post-16 destinations do they move into? 5. What are the implications of the projects findings for future policy and practice? This project has two parts. First, it will examine the factors that lead to school exclusion through a rapid review of the literature relating to school exclusion, and interviews with senior managers in mainstream schools. These interviews will develop understanding around school policies and the use of exclusion. Second, a longitudinal case study will assess the support that care experienced young people receive for transitions into post-16 education, training or work during the final year in a PRU (Time 1), their experiences in these destinations after leaving a PRU, (Time 2) and the sustainability of these pathways, 12 months later (Time 3). Two local authorities will be sampled based on the rate of care experienced young people within PRUs. An intensive 10-day field site visit will take place in each PRU. Ethnographic methods will be used in the PRUs, including creative methods will the pupils, to understand their experiences of school exclusion and post-16 support processes. The pupils will then be interviewed again at Time 2 and Time 3. Whilst PRU learners may move into further education or training, many do not sustain these new placements in the long term (Wilcock, 2020). This longitudinal element will support better understanding of this issue, and the ambitions of Welsh Government around good PRU practice (Welsh Government, 2017).

Lay abstract: Young people with experiences of care continue to have poorer outcomes when compared with their peers, in areas including health, education and wellbeing. As a result, care experienced young people continue to be at increased risk of unemployment, poverty and other forms of social exclusion. In recent years a number of initiatives have been set up to reduce the educational achievement gap for these young people and to support their future aspirations. Despite much promising work, however, those with experiences of care continue to be over represented within PRUs. Studies have shown that many PRU pupils enjoy their time in PRUs, where a sense of belonging and confidence can be restored. But research has also shown that exclusions can disadvantage learners who are already vulnerable, with greater risk of long-term poverty and criminal and antisocial behaviour. It can become increasingly difficult for PRU learners to not only make successful transitions into education, employment or training but also to sustain them once there. In 2020, almost half of all PRU pupils aged 16 in England dropped out of education, training and work altogether (Wilcock, 2020). A care experienced PRU pupil who is aged 16 is therefore likely to be faced with multiple challenges when it comes to their future outlook. The Fellowship has two main stages which are; 1) to understand the factors that lead to care experienced young people being excluded from a mainstream school in Wales, and 2) to explore the processes that support care experienced PRU learners in preparing for post-16 destinations. A group of these pupils will then be tracked over 12 months, as they enter post-16 pathways, to understand the facilitators and barriers of sustainable transitions. To address these stages, a longitudinal case study approach will be used. In Stage One, a rapid review of the literature in relation to school exclusions will be conducted, along with senior staff interviews in mainstream schools, to understand school exclusion policy. In Stage Two, PRU staff and other professionals involved in post-16 transitions will be interviewed within two PRUs, to understand the PRU transition processes that exist. These case studies will also offer care experienced pupils with an opportunity to express their opinions and experiences, in relation to school exclusions, PRU transitions and their future aspirations. This will then be followed up by two rounds of interviews with the care experienced young people, firstly when they begin new courses in education, training or work, and again, 12 months later. To date, no research has previously tracked a group of vulnerable learners in this way across Wales. In doing so, the project offers the opportunity for a unique insight into how PRUs support young people, and what factors facilitate sustainable transitions. This comes at a time when Welsh Government are invested in improving this area of education, and recognise the need for longitudinal work, in order to understand good PRU practice (Welsh Government, 2017). This study will therefore inform education policy on school exclusion decision-making, post-16 facilitators and barriers for PRU learners, and the educational experiences, opinions, and aspirations of a previously unheard group of care experienced young people in Wales - those who attend PRUs.

Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: DISPUTED AETIOLOGY AND OTHER