A managed move is a voluntary agreement to transfer a pupil permanently to another mainstream school, used as a planned alternative to exclusion. It needs everyone's consent and the pupil's best interests (DfE, 2024).
What a managed move is for
The Department for Education's Behaviour in schools guidance describes a managed move as a process that leads to a pupil transferring to another mainstream school permanently. In practice it gives a pupil whose behaviour has not improved after in-school support a fresh start on a new roll, often where the only other route on the table would be permanent exclusion. There is no statutory scheme behind it: a managed move rests on guidance, not legislation, and on the agreement of everyone involved.
How it differs from off-site direction and exclusion
These three measures are easy to blur, but they are not interchangeable, and using the wrong one is where schools get into trouble.
- Managed move — a permanent transfer to a new mainstream school that needs the consent of the family, the pupil where appropriate, and the new school's admission authority. No exclusion is recorded.
- Off-site direction — a temporary, school-directed placement to improve behaviour. The guidance is explicit that where a temporary move is what is needed, off-site direction is the right tool, not a managed move. It can be directed without parental consent under the suspension and permanent exclusion guidance.
- Permanent exclusion — the formal, recorded removal of a pupil by the headteacher, following the statutory process with the right to make representations to governors. See what counts as an illegal exclusion.
It must be voluntary, and it must be permanent
A managed move only happens when it is in the pupil's best interests and when every party agrees, including the family and the receiving school. The DfE's guide for parents is clear that a school should not pressure a family into one. Because the move is permanent, the guidance says schools should not run a “trial period” or “trial admission”. Many local-authority protocols still describe a twelve-week trial; that practice contradicts the national guidance, and Child Law Advice notes Ofsted treats a move a family was pressured into as evidence of off-rolling. See what off-rolling is and whether it is legal.
If the pupil has SEND
A managed move does not displace any special educational needs duties. A pupil on SEN Support keeps that support, and an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) continues to bind the receiving school once the move is agreed; the named school in the plan would need amending through the local authority. A diagnosis is not required to use a managed move, but where needs are unmet, the honest question is whether the right support, rather than a new roll, is what the pupil needs.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.