What we are doing in Lambeth, Spring Term 2026

Why this matters

The duty sits with the authority. The children sit in your schools.

When a child cannot attend school, the obligation to keep educating them does not pause. It moves to the local authority. In practice the child is still on a school roll, still known to a head of year, and still waiting for someone to arrange something.

Where a child of compulsory school age would not otherwise receive suitable education, the local authority must arrange it.

Section 19, Education Act 1996

21.09%

of secondary pupils in England were persistently absent, missing a tenth or more of their sessions, autumn term 2024/25.

Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England, released 7 August 2025.

In 1 Lambeth schools last term, the thing that got arranged was Purple Ruler. Across the county we are engaged with 2. This page sets out exactly what that amounted to over one term.

The term in numbers

What we delivered, spring term 2026

Between 5 January 2026 and 31 March 2026, this is what Purple Ruler taught in Lambeth. Every figure counts only sessions that actually ran.

310lessons deliveredSessions that ran and were completed. Cancelled and flagged sessions are excluded.

1schools teaching children this termOut of 2 Lambeth schools engaged with Purple Ruler.

54separate days of teachingProvision ran across the term, not in a single block.

25placements to dateIndividual children taught across the whole of our work in Lambeth.

What is counted. A lesson counts once it has run and been completed. Sessions that were cancelled, or flagged for review, are left out. We report what we delivered, and nothing about attendance or grades, because those records belong to the schools rather than to us.

Where we work

2 Lambeth schools already work with us

These are the schools in the authority that have brought Purple Ruler in for at least one child. Individual referral numbers are each school's own business, so they are not published here.

Ark Evelyn Grace Academy

Trinity Academy

What we taught

A full curriculum, not a holding pattern

Children out of the classroom still sat a real timetable. Across the term we taught 3 subjects in Lambeth, led by the core three.

Maths

126

English Combined

Science

Provision in use across Lambeth

Schools choose the provision that fits the child. These are the four in use across the authority, and how many schools use each.

Category A

Academy

A full-time online school place for a child who cannot attend any physical setting.

1school

Category B

Blueprint

Curriculum-matched teaching that keeps a child on their own school's syllabus while they are out of the room.

2schools

Category C

Compass

One to one teaching built around SEND and ESOL need, at the pace the child can take.

1school

Category D

Distinction

Targeted teaching aimed squarely at exams and attainment.

1school

What it looks like when it works

The same provision, written up by the partner who used it

This is not a Lambeth story. It is the closest published account of what happens when a partner stops buying places one child at a time and builds shared provision instead, and it is the pattern we would bring to Lambeth.

From our work with The White Horse Federation

How one trust built a single alternative provision hub across all its schools

A partner facing the same pressure, one school at a time, moved to a single shared provision that any of its schools could draw on. The full account is published, with their name on it.

Read the account

How it works

The parts that make it safe to commission

Provision that discharges a statutory duty has to stand up to scrutiny. These are the mechanisms behind every lesson counted on this page.

Qualified teachers, not tutors

Every lesson is taught by a qualified teacher. This is school provision delivered online, not supplementary tutoring.

Safeguarding by design

Lessons are recorded, staff are DBS checked, and safeguarding follows KCSIE. A designated lead is reachable throughout the school day.

Live quality assurance

Sessions are observed and graded against a rubric, so quality is measured continuously rather than reported after the fact.

A record you can show

Each placement produces an attendance and progress record the school and the authority can use as evidence that the duty is being met.

The opportunity

What this could be if Lambeth ran it as one thing

2 separate arrangements, or one route in.

Every one of these schools found us on their own. That works, but it means Lambeth is buying the same provision 2 times over, with no single view of which children are in it. An authority-level arrangement changes that.

A single route into provision for any Lambeth school, instead of each school negotiating alone.
Pooled capacity, so a place is available the week a child needs it rather than the term after.
One reporting line back to the authority, covering every child placed through it.
Pay for what runs. No minimum, no empty seats held open.

Talk to us about Lambeth

We can walk through this term's delivery, the schools involved, and what an authority-wide arrangement would look like in practice.

Book a conversation

hello@purpleruler.com · purpleruler.com

Our figures. Lesson counts are taken from Purple Ruler's own delivery records for the term stated, counting only sessions that ran and were completed. Cancelled and flagged sessions are excluded. Placement and school counts cover all Purple Ruler work in the authority to date.

21.09% (autumn term 2024/25): Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England, released 7 August 2025.

This page reports delivery only. It makes no claim about attendance rates or examination outcomes, which are held by the schools.