Cardiff City Foundation partnership targets alternative education provision for disengaged pupils
Cardiff City Foundation partnership targets alternative education provision for disengaged pupils
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A new partnership between The BUSY Group and the Cardiff City FC Community Foundation has been launched to expand alternative education provision for disengaged pupils across South Wales.
The collaboration, unveiled at Cardiff City Football Club last month, brings together education providers, additional learning needs co-ordinators (ALNCos), local referrers, business leaders and community stakeholders.
It is the first partnership of its kind in Wales to formally combine education, sport and wellbeing within a non-traditional learning environment.
Under the agreement, The BUSY Group will work with Cardiff City FC Community Foundation, the club’s official charity, to extend its alternative learning offer through The BUSY School.
The model focuses on small class sizes, flexible timetables and individual learning plans, supported by wrap-around wellbeing and careers guidance.
The launch event highlighted the growing demand for alternative provision in Wales, driven by rising levels of exclusion and disengagement from mainstream education.
Since the pandemic, persistent absenteeism has remained a significant challenge, with around one in 10 pupils missing more than 20% of school sessions.
Permanent exclusions have also increased, rising to 0.9 per 1,000 pupils in 2022/23, up from 0.6 per 1,000 the previous year.
Pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) continue to experience disproportionately higher rates of both fixed-term and permanent exclusions compared with their peers.
Cardiff City FC Community Foundation already delivers a range of education and outreach programmes, enabling young people to develop skills in the classroom and apply them through sport, with progression routes extending to degree level.
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