{"id":247265,"date":"2026-06-04T23:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=247265"},"modified":"2026-06-04T23:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:08:12","slug":"managed-moves-could-be-consigned-to-the-history-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/managed-moves-could-be-consigned-to-the-history-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Managed moves could be ‘consigned to the history books’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Managed moves could be <\/span>\u201c<\/span>consigned to the history books<\/span>\u201d <\/span>by new government guidance preventing oversubscribed schools from prioritising them in admissions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Use of the voluntary agreements between schools and families to transfer pupils at risk of exclusion varies between councils<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>government does not collect any official data on the practice. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, FFT Education Datalab predicts<\/a> a<\/span>bout<\/span> 6,000 managed moves <\/span>are made<\/span> each year, <\/span>with criticism that<\/span> parents are put under pressure to agree.<\/span><\/p>\n

New suspensions and permanent exclusions guidance released last week<\/a> ordered oversubscribed schools not to prioritise pupils in managed moves over those on their waiting list, unless they better met their oversubscription criteria.<\/span><\/p>\n

Experts have warned this could effectively end the practice and force struggling schools to take on more pupils at risk of permanent exclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Move pupils further afield<\/span><\/h2>\n

While managed moves are supposed to be a product of local partnership, <\/span>Kieran Smith, an <\/span>education consultant and youth justice education officer<\/span>, said the changes<\/span> could force pupils to move further afield.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>A lot of our children don<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t like travelling on <\/span>a bus<\/span> because they<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re in different gangs and if it goes through different postcodes, they don<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t know who they<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re going to bump into.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith, who works across Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees and Manchester, estimated around 50 to 70 per cent of the schools he works with are at capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I know the best schools for certain children and if we<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re not able to get that child to that school <\/span>\u2026 <\/span>and we<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re going to have to go to a different school<\/span>,<\/span>maybe even outside the local authority, then I lose all knowledge and influence that I<\/span>\u2019<\/span>ve got. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I wouldn<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t want to send the child to somewhere that I<\/span>\u2019<\/span>m not sure of.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Managed moves used <\/span>\u2018<\/span>responsibly<\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/h2>\n

Darren Lyon<\/span>, a former head, <\/span>told Schools Week managed moves were used <\/span>\u201c<\/span>responsibly<\/span>\u201d <\/span>during his time leading schools in Oldham, Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>They give an opportunity for a young person who might be at serious risk of permanent exclusion a fresh start<\/span> \u2026<\/span> it means that they<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re not automatically drawn into poor behaviours, and that bit of respite puts them back on the straight and narrow.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he had been at both ends of the system, and ran both a school with a waiting list and one with an <\/span>\u201c<\/span>extremely challenging<\/span>\u201d <\/span>cohort.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lyon said the new guidance meant struggling schools <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>those less likely to be oversubscribed <\/span>\u2013<\/span> could be forced to take pupils via <\/span>a <\/span>managed move.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>We would have taken a significant number of pupils on managed moves, or more likely we wouldn<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t have done, and they would end up out of the school system. So I can<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t really see a positive.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Schools become <\/span>\u2018<\/span>wary<\/span>\u2019 <\/span><\/h2>\n

John Walker, <\/span>a <\/span>partner and data protection officer at PHP <\/span>L<\/span>aw, said schools ha<\/span>d<\/span>become <\/span>\u201c<\/span>very, very wary<\/span>\u201d <\/span>of using managed moves. Under current rules, the accepting school can only remove the pupil via permanent exclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I think managed moves are absolutely going to be consigned to the history books<\/span>\u201d<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Philip Wood, <\/span>a <\/span>partner at <\/span>the l<\/span>aw firm Browne Jacobson, <\/span>warned of <\/span>a <\/span>\u201c<\/span>knock<\/span>–<\/span>on impact<\/span>\u201d <\/span>from the decision, as it could make more schools turn to permanent exclusions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>If you<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re trying to reduce permanent exclusions <\/span>\u2013<\/span> which we should be trying to do <\/span>\u2013<\/span> then you<\/span>\u2019<\/span>ve got to give schools another option,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>Wood said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research by the <\/span>Education Policy Institute <\/span>(EPI) <\/span>found that in 2018-19, a<\/span>bout<\/span> 6<\/span>per cent of England<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s year 11 cohort had experienced a managed move during their five years at secondary school, amounting to 37,000 moves.<\/span><\/p>\n

EPI found these pupils were disproportionally from disadvantaged groups, including those with social, emotional and mental health needs, a child in need or from black ethnic groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

But compared with those who were permanently excluded with the same characteristics, FFT <\/span>E<\/span>ducation <\/span>Datal<\/span>ab found pupils with a managed move tended to have higher attainment by the end of their school career.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guidance welcomed<\/span><\/h2>\n

Experts welcomed other parts of the guidance, including the power for schools to temporarily remove a pupil from site for safeguarding reasons, for example following allegations <\/span>of <\/span>child-on-child abuse. This would not count as a formal suspension.<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker said this was <\/span>\u201c<\/span>long overdue<\/span>\u201d <\/span>as <\/span>it<\/span> would <\/span>\u201c<\/span>give an opportunity to not label either the person being accused or the apparent victim, and the opportunity for it to be more of a neutral act<\/span>\u201d<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The guidance also <\/span>lists<\/span> new examples of off-rolling, when pupils are illegally taken off a school<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s roll<\/span>, including <\/span>placing a pupil on reduced timetable for behavioural reasons. <\/span><\/p>\n

Smith said th<\/span>e change<\/span> could be beneficial as it force<\/span>d<\/span> schools to support pupils for the whole day <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>especially those at risk of child criminal or sexual exploitation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts warn new suspensions guidance could force struggling schools to take on more pupils at risk of permanent exclusion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315335,"featured_media":246091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"post-theme":[2354],"class_list":["post-247265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","post-theme-inclusion"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t