Thank you, Darren. It’s not just pupils who attend pupil referral units we have to be concerned about, it’s all children who receive their education other than at school. You will know that Ann Keane is chairing a group that is looking at EOTAS provision to ensure that we will see the improvements that we need in EOTAS, whether that’s in a PRU or in another particular setting, and we are working very closely with Ann to implement changes that she feels are necessary.

I am currently considering looking at the use of pupil deprivation grants with regard to pupils in PRU or EOTAS, looking at options, whether we can target additional resources to the education of those children, as well as ensuring that there is quality provision and outcome and that children do not have their life chances and their educational chances narrowed by being outside of mainstream school, because there is evidence to suggest that pupils who could go on to achieve a wide range of qualifications are not having that opportunity because the curriculum is narrowed so much for them if they find themselves outside the mainstream classroom.