OFSTED DEFINITION OF OFF-ROLLING Off-rolling is the practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without using a permanent exclusion when the removal is primarily in the best interests of the school, rather than the best interests of the pupil. This includes pressuring a parent to remove their child from the school roll. |
It can happen in any type of school, as I demonstrated a few years ago when I exposed the Invicta Grammar Sixth Form scandal which went national and resulted in the government being forced to clarify the existing law although I suspect it still continues in a few cases, notably Holcombe Grammar, below.
A major pointer to off-rolling taking place is a large percentage fall in pupil numbers for a school between the start of Year 10 and January of Year 11 along with, or alternatively, high Elective Home Education numbers (EHE). The importance of the January date is that after this, pupils leaving the school will have their GCSE performance (or absence) counted in official outcomes even with the new Coronavirus arrangements. I have no proof that off-rolling is the key reason for the sharp falls in pupil numbers identified below, but it is a reasonable suspicion.
Twelve Kent and two Medway schools lost from 7% to 13% of their cohort in this way this year, five of them for at least two years running.
I have also given figures for the change between Year Seven and Year Eleven for these schools, which, in some cases should certainly be raising questions, as was the case a few years ago with Holmesdale School then under KCC control. This signposted a school falling apart at the seams, although KCC failed to notice, and I am delighted that it now appears on the way back again under different control. Although Ofsted now has responsibility for identifying schools where off-rolling occurs, I have as yet seen no evidence of this in relevant Reports locally.
Last year I contributed to a National Report by the Children's Commissioner for England, entitled 'Skipping School- Invisible Children', looking at how some schools pressured families into withdrawing their children to undertake Elective Home Education, a major tactic which can lead to off-rolling. I wrote in my previous article on 2018-19 EHE numbers: 'The four highest EHE schools are the same as in 2017-18 and are four out of the top six the previous year, yet no-one appears to question what is going on in these schools'. Three of these also top the table below!
Such a fall can also happen if there is a partially transient pupil body, for example at schools with high eastern European or Traveller numbers such as the top three schools in the list below. Five of the schools below are also in the 2018-19 table. Hartsdown faces fresh problems with a new school opening in Thanet. Waterfront UTC is the new name given to Medway's UTC after its takeover by The Howard School Trust, following an appalling record under the previous management as Medway UTC, and one would expect to see an improvement soon.
Large Fall in Kent and Medway Secondary Pupil Numbers indicating Possible Off-Rolling | ||||
Yr 10 Sep 2018 - Year 11 Jan 20 | Yr 10 Sep 2017 - Year 11 Jan 19 | Yr 7 Sep 2015 - Year 11 Jan 20 | ||
Pupil Loss | % Loss | % Loss | % Loss | |
| High Weald Academy | 7 | 13% | 11% | 21% |
| New Line Learning | 14 | 13% | 8% | 17% |
| Hartsdown Academy | 16 | 12% | 14% | 26% |
| Waterfront UTC* | 6 | 12% | 10% | N/A |
| Victory* | 13 | 11% | 5% | 12% |
| Malling | 13 | 10% | 1% | 3% |
| Towers | 16 | 10% | 3% | -2% |
| Orchards | 10 | 9% | 4% | 14% |
| Sandwich | 19 | 8% | 4% | 12% |
| Brockhill | 16 | 7% | 6% | 11% |
| St Edmund's) | 5 | 7% | -2% | 10% |
| Hadlow Rural Community | 4 | 7% | 8% | 13% |
* Medway School
Noticeably absent from this list are: Ebbsfleet Academy, the worst culprit for several years, following a change of headteacher; Holmesdale School turned around following a controversial management takeover by Swale Academies from Kent County Council, who had sleepwalked it into Special Measures and beyond; and Hundred of Hoo Academy which also appears to be through past difficulties.
There are nine schools in the table which lost more than 10% of their pupil numbers between starting the school in Year Seven through to January of Year 11 along with: Royal Harbour, 22% (facing a fresh challenge along with Hartsdown); Charles Dickens, 15% (now out of Special Measures, so this is mainly historical)); Hundred of Hoo, 15% (also mainly historical); Greenacre 15%; and Westlands 12%.
Kent and Medway Grammar School Losses Year 12 - Year 13 | |||
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| Holcombe | 15% | 30% | 22% |
| Barton Court | 10% | 9% | 13% |
| Queen Elizabeth's | 8% | 13% | 2% |