Who is this template for?
This template is designed for leaders responsible for the quality and strategic oversight of Alternative Provision (AP) in England. This includes Headteachers, Senior Leadership Teams, Governors, and Trustees within AP settings, as well as MAT CEOs and Local Authority leaders responsible for commissioning and quality-assuring provision.
Why use this template?
This template provides a clear, structured framework to turn evaluation into meaningful action. It helps leaders move beyond compliance to drive genuine improvement in the quality of education and support for students in Alternative Provision.
- Drive Consistent Quality: Address inconsistencies in AP quality by using a robust, evidence-based framework to evaluate your provision against recognised standards.
- Strengthen Strategic Planning: Move seamlessly from evaluation to action. The process helps you analyse helping and hindering factors, enabling the creation of targeted, high-impact improvement plans.
- Enhance Quality Assurance: For MATs and Local Authorities, the template provides a consistent framework for commissioning and quality assurance, ensuring all commissioned AP meets high standards.
- Empower Self-Evaluation: Equip your leadership team with a powerful tool for critical self-evaluation, fostering a culture of reflection and continuous improvement within your school or provision.
- Promote Collaboration and Best Practice: The template provides a common language for improvement, promoting the sharing of best practices and resources among AP settings to foster a collaborative and supportive environment.
- Identify and Address Gaps: By using the template, AP providers can pinpoint specific areas where their provision may be lacking and develop targeted strategies to address these gaps effectively.
- Support Stakeholder Reporting: Generate clear, professional PDF reports with a single click, providing a concise, strategic overview for Governors, Trustees, or the MAT Board.
How does it work?
This template follows the standard, intuitive iAbacus process: make a judgement, verify it with criteria, provide evidence, analyse helping and hindering factors, and create a targeted action plan. The evaluation is structured across the following key areas:
- Workforce development and wellbeing
- Home and family engagement
- Partnership working
- Research and innovation
- Pupil induction
- Attendance and engagement
- Supporting pupils’ needs
- Quality of education
- Personal development
- Qualifications
- Assessment of need
- Appropriate transition
- Post-16 destinations
Gaining Strategic Insight
A MAT CEO can use iAbacus's unique 'Overlay' feature with this template to gain powerful strategic insight. By overlaying the 'Alternative Provision Quality Toolkit' abacuses from all academies in the trust, they can quickly compare overall performance, identify schools that require targeted support, and pinpoint successful strategies in high-performing schools that can be replicated across the group. This transforms data into a clear, strategic picture for trust-wide improvement.
Clear, Professional Reporting
With one click, you can export your evaluation into a polished, visually compelling PDF report. This feature is invaluable for sharing strategic overviews with key stakeholders. A report generated from a 'Stack' or 'Overlay' of multiple evaluations offers a powerful, comparative overview for a MAT Trust Board reviewing trust-wide performance. For Governors and Trustees, a concise report provides the strategic insight needed to effectively challenge and support leadership during board meetings.
References / Source Material
How to Get Started
New to iAbacus? Discover how this template can support your improvement strategy. Book a personalised demo or start a free trial to explore the full platform. Visit www.iabacus.com to learn more.
Already a subscriber? You can find this template in the template library within your iAbacus account. Simply log in, create a new abacus, and select it from the list to get started.
