GovWire

Pupil referral units (PRUs) teach children who arent able to attend school and may not otherwise receive suitable education. This could be because they have a short- or long-term illness, have been excluded or are a new starter waiting for a mainstream school place.

PRUs that convert to academy status become alternative provision (AP) academies. PRUs can convert on their own, as part of a chain of academies, or with the support of a sponsor.

Registration

You should complete the online registration form and someone from our AP academies team will get in touch. This person will be your project lead and take you through the conversion process. If you want to convert as part of a chain with other PRUs, each unit will need to fill in a separate registration form.

Application

Your management committee then has to vote on whether to convert. If you vote yes, complete the PRU application form (MS Word Document, 104 KB) and email it to RegionalServices.RG@education.gov.uk.

Again, if youre part of a chain, each PRU will fill in a separate application form, and include the names of the PRUs involved. Whether you plan to convert individually or as part of a chain, your application will need to include evidence of:

• your capacity to improve achievements that support learning, such as improvements in behaviour, overall attendance, reduction in persistent absence and exclusion rates
• what happens to pupils after their time in alternative provision, and how, where appropriate, you help them back into mainstream education
• strong leadership, and how you will take on the extra responsibilities of academy status such as HR and contract management
• how you tailor your approaches to individual pupils needs

You will also need to show:

• your 2 most recent Ofsted reports
• attainment and progression data
• details about your PRU, for example the categories of pupils you cater for
• information on your plans to consult with interested parties on becoming an academy
• information about your buildings and land ownership
• historic and predicted budgetary information
• bank details so we can pay your start-up grant

If your application meets these criteria, the Secretary of State will approve it in principle and issue an academy order, and you can begin the formal conversion process.

Legal documentation

Academy trust

When you have received your academy order, you will need to set up your academy trust. An academy trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee, made up of members and directors. The directors will also be the governors of the AP academy. They will be responsible for its day-to-day management and governance (replacing the PRUs management committee).

The members of the trust will be its legal owners and have overall control over the company and the way the academy is run. Normally there should be 3 founding members of the academy trust.

Before setting up the trust, you (or your solicitor) will need to fill in the model memorandum and articles of association for converting PRUs.

The memorandum sets out the name of the trust and its founding members. The articles of association set out the arrangements for the management, governance and running of the academy trust.

You should send these to your project lead and, once theyve been approved, you can register your trust with Companies House and set up a new bank account. There is a fee for this, but you will get the money back from your conversion grant.

Land and buildings

Your solicitor will help you complete the PRU-specific land questionnaire, and will submit it to your project lead for approval. If you are a multi-site PRU, you will need to complete a questionnaire for each site.

Your academy trust, local authority, and any other parties should agree the leasing arrangements for PRU land and buildings. These must be in place before you sign your funding agreement. If the land transfer involves a sub-lease, you will need to submit it to your project lead for approval.

Funding agreement

The funding agreement is the contract between the Secretary of State and your academy trust and is the method by which we hold all academies accountable. It sets out terms for funding, how the academy is run, its duties and the powers the Secretary of State has over your academy. The funding agreement makes references to legislation to ensure that academies operate in a similar way to other state-funded schools.

You (or your solicitor) should submit your draft funding agreement to your project lead at the same time as you submit your draft memorandum and articles of association, and land questionnaire.

You can download a model funding agreement.

Consultation

Section 5 of the Academies Act 2010 requires your management committee to consult with interested parties about becoming an academy before the funding agreement is signed, but it is up to you when it starts and how long it lasts.

Staff transfer

The academy trust needs to take over as the employer, so the local authority will need to start the formal Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) process. This process ensures that all information on the staff who are transferring to the academy is recorded and transferred to the trust.

Pensions

When you are an AP academy, your trust will be responsible for staff pensions, even if your local authority continues to act as payroll provider. The occupational pension schemes are the local government pension scheme (LGPS) for non-teaching staff and the teachers pensions scheme (TPS) for teaching staff.

The TPS is managed by Capita Teachers Pensions. You should contact them as soon as your academy order has been signed to let them know that you are in the process of converting. More information is on the Teachers Pensions website.

Your funding agreement requires you to offer LGPS membership to all non-teaching staff. Existing staff who are already members of the LGPS will be unaffected and their membership will continue. After conversion, any new non-teaching staff will be eligible to join.

Contact details

Commercial transfer agreement

Your academy trust and local authority will need a commercial transfer agreement (CTA) so that contracts, liabilities and assets are recorded for both the local authority and academy trust. You can download a 