DfE registered · Ofsted inspected · Live, teacher-led provision for KS3 and KS4
+44 20 4551 8371 (UK)
+1 302 597 9251 (US)
— ONLINE ALTERNATIVE PROVISION & TUITION
When the classroom isn't working, we are the way back into learning.
Live, teacher-led lessons for the young people mainstream school cannot reach right now. The right teacher, at the right pace, online.
30+
local authorities
URN 152279
DfE registered
Ofsted
inspected
KS3–KS4
live teaching
"A big part of the safe space are the Purple Ruler tutors."
CHRIS CASSIDY · VICE PRINCIPAL, THE CENTRE SCHOOL
"We need new ways of reaching them."
BAL GILL · EDUCATION OFFICER, LB BARKING AND DAGENHAM
"The purpose of this work is to reach the students nobody else could."
TIM JAMES · SEND & INCLUSION LEAD, THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION
— WHO WE ARE
Why Purple Ruler exists
Purple Ruler was started by teachers who kept watching the same pupils slip off the register and out of sight. We built a school without a building, so the young people mainstream school cannot reach are still taught live, by someone who knows their name.
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The same teacher, every week
One teacher, one group, the same hour each week. For a pupil who has stopped trusting a timetable, that is the intervention, not the setting for one.
Optional interactive route
Microphone off is fine too, and taking part in the chat counts. Diagnostic Discovery in lesson one sets the pace, because online is different from the classroom they left.
Only our own staff, ever
Vetted, DBS-checked facilitators on approved platforms, and never a stranger in a lesson. A Designated Safeguarding Lead reads every concern herself.
You always know where the pupil is
A report every Friday in plain words, a termly review, and an annual summary. Written so the school can act on it, not so the file looks complete.
Bella, Maseeha, Ley and Saairah lead safeguarding. Behind them are the internal team and teachers your pupils actually see each week, and every one of them is ours.
— IN THEIR WORDS
The people who commissioned us, and the young people it was for
A trust, a school and a local authority describing what changed, and students describing it in their own words.
The Partners
MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
“The purpose of this work is to reach the students nobody else could.’’
Alternative provision spread across multiple small providers, consolidated into one trust‑wide hub: one teaching standard, one safeguarding line, and reporting the central team can compare across schools.
Tim James, The White Horse Federation
SEND & Inclusion Lead · Multi-academy trust, South West England
SCHOOL
“This is time dedicated for that young person that we can put aside, and it is not going to be disrupted by whatever else might be happening in the course of the school day.’’
One‑to‑one teaching for a pupil the classroom could not reach: two subjects became four, around 131 lessons at 83% attendance.
Chris Cassidy
Vice Principal, The Centre School, Astrea Trust, Cottenham
LOCAL AUTHORITY
“There are not enough places within the borough for children who are not in school. We need to find new models, new ways of reaching them.’’
Live teaching for children who are not in school, built around the EHCP or EOTAS plan rather than a timetable, and reported against that plan’s own outcomes every week.
Bal Gill
Education Officer, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
— FROM THE YOUNG PEOPLE
What the students say
“
I drove up to the street. I didn’t even want to come closer… I feel like I’ll learn more here. I really like it. They have skill, you feel like they know what they’re doing.
A student who had stopped attending. He is now thinking beyond his GCSEs, towards sixth form.
“
I was only meant to be at a four-week placement, but I was there for two months…, just sitting in a room doing paperwork. Here, I like it more than mainstream. I want to go to uni.
A student who came on a four-week placement and stayed.
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— OUR PROVISION
Five services, one continuum of support
From full-time stabilisation to academic stretch, each pupil is matched to the provision that fits their need. A pupil with an EHCP is always placed in Compass.
ACADEMY
A
Full provision, online
A stable, supported timetable for pupils who need a place away from the mainstream classroom.
£159
/ student / week
BLUEPRINT
B
Curriculum matched
Teaching aligned to your scheme of work and exam board, keeping pupils on track to sit their qualifications.
£35
/ hour, per group
COMPASS
C
One to one, SEND informed
Regular individual teaching for SEMH and high-need SEND. The default provision for an EHCP.
£35
/ hour, per group
DISTINCTION
D
Stretch and challenge
Small-group teaching that extends high attainers beyond the standard scheme of work.
£35
/ hour, per group
EVOLVE
E
Therapeutic support
One-to-one support for emotionally based school avoidance and anxiety, alongside any provision.
£45
/ student / week
Not sure which fits?
Tell us about the pupil and we will recommend the right provision. Diagnostic Discovery in lesson one confirms the match.
— START HERE
Tell us who you are
We work with multi-academy trusts, schools, and local authorities. Pick your route and we will tailor the conversation to your duties and budgets.
For MATs
Consolidate fragmented alternative provision across your trust into one accountable service, with consistent teaching, safeguarding, and reporting.
For Schools
Rapid, reliable placement for the pupils the classroom isn't working for. Start an Academy placement with a one-week free trial.
For Local Authorities
EHCP and EOTAS provision that meets your statutory duties, with the assurance, records, and commissioning pack you need.
— HOW IT WORKS
Placed in 48 hours, matched in one lesson
No long forms, no waiting list. We start fast and confirm the match through teaching, not paperwork.
1
Refer the pupil
Send us the basics. We confirm a place and a start date, with Academy starting within 48 hours.
2
Diagnostic Discovery, lesson one
The teacher builds a learner profile in the first lesson, because online is different from the classroom they left.
3
Matched teacher and pace
Sensory load, pacing, scaffolding, and regulation breaks are matched to the learner, not the average.
4
Weekly reporting
A report every Friday, detailed termly reviews, and an annual progress summary.
— TRUSTED PROVISION
Commissioned across the UK and US
50+
local authorities
300+
UK MATs and schools
65,000+
live lessons taught to date
5
services across the support continuum
48hr
typical Academy start
— REPORTS AND ARTICLES
What we are learning, written down
Partner stories and research from the schools, trusts and authorities we work with.
PARTNER STORY
How Online Teaching Reached a Child the Classroom Could Not
The common wisdom is that the more complex a child’s needs, the less online teaching can do for them. A specialist school in Cambridgeshire found the opposite, and here is how it worked.
PLAYBOOK
The New Inclusion Centre Playbook
Why English school trusts are moving alternative provision in‑house — building inclusion centres that cut cost, strengthen safeguarding, and bridge students back into mainstream learning.
RESEARCH
When Policy Travels Further Than Capacity
Across very different education systems, a similar problem is emerging: language policy assumes every school can provide structured English language development. Very often it cannot.
These are the young people the classroom isn't working for right now. Anxiety, attendance refusal, an EHCP that hasn't found the right setting, a managed move that hasn't bedded in, or a child who has been out for too long.
The right teacher and the right pace, even online, is the difference between drifting and finding a way back into learning.
— TALK TO US
Tell us who needs a place
One short form. We reply with the provision, a start date and the next step, within one working day.
No long referral pack to fill in first.
We confirm the match in lesson one through Diagnostic Discovery.
Academy placements can start within 48 hours.