A PRU is not a mainstream or special school, but is legally both a type of school and education otherwise than at school. These units are diverse in terms of the number and type of pupils catered for, the typical length of the stay, arrangements for admission and transfer to other education, and the nature of the curriculum and length of the school day.
Local authorities operate different models of PRU provision, developed to meet local circumstances and in line with local policies. Models of provision by local authorities that may be included in the blanket term “PRU” include:
- provision on a single site;
- provision on several sites under a single management structure;
- 'e-learning' provision using ICT and web-based resources;
- hospital and home teaching services, or discrete parts of a service which provide education in a unit or school-type setting;
- some hospital provision;
- separate provision for young mothers / pregnant pupils; and
- umbrella provision to register pupils who follow individual programmes.
Links to more information and useful documents can be found on the right of this page