A school educating expelled Birmingham children charged almost twice the tuition per pupil of a nearby top-tier state school, even though an official report concluded the council did not know whether children were being taught something in a “home studio” without supervision.
Independent school Flexible Learning (FL) was awarded more than £4.5m over three years by Birmingham City Council despite not having a written contract, according to an internal audit marked ‘official – sensitive’, which was leaked to MailOnline.
The report said an agreement had been reached whereby permanently excluded pupils were automatically placed at the school based on a small site in Hockley, central Birmingham, if there were no places available at Birmingham City School (COBS).
Auditors at the now-bankrupt Labor council also said there was a “safeguarding risk” to the approximately 50 children attending the school as the council was not monitoring them as well as it should.
The cost to the council is an average of £30,000 per pupil per year, almost double the cost of one of Birmingham’s most expensive state schools, King Edward’s School, which charges fees of around £17,000 per year. .
Independent school Flexible Learning (pictured) received more than £4.5m over three years without a written contract, according to a Birmingham City Council audit marked ‘official – sensitive’, which was leaked to MailOnline
This graph shows that Birmingham City Council paid Flexible Learning £30,000 per pupil per year, compared to the city’s public schools which have fees almost half as high and the average UK public school fees and spending average in public schools.
FL charges the council £30,000 per pupil per year, which is almost double the cost of one of Birmingham’s most expensive state schools, King Edward’s School (pictured), which charges fees of around £17,000 a year. .
The amount Flexible Learning charges is around three-fifths of that charged by Eton College, one of Britain’s most expensive boarding schools, which charges fees of around £50,000 a year.
A recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the average spend by British pupils in state schools was around £8,000 a year, and fees in UK state schools were around £15,200 a year on average.
Flexible Learning School, led by headteacher Shamim Akhtar, saw its bank balance rise from less than £26,000 in 2018 to more than £760,000 in 2021, according to Companies House records.
Birmingham City Council launched an audit after the school wrote during the 2020/21 season complaining that more than £1 million in invoices had not been paid. They were later paid after being checked.
The school charged “questionable” rates of £25 an hour for unsupervised “home study”, the report claims, adding that the council had “no records of the agreed prices”.
He also said the council was “vulnerable to error” as the invoice verification process had “limitations” as the authority “did not keep records” of placements apart from some made before December 2019.
Council officials, who have since left, had set up an automatic system that provided places in Flexible Learning when a pupil appeared on a Birmingham city school’s waiting list, the report said.
He added that no one on the council was overseeing the implementation of individual placements and that Flexible Learning “decided on the provision required together with the pupils’ parents, as BCC had not established a consultation or agreement process”.
The council was not “adequately” carrying out its statutory duty as a commissioner as required under the direction of the Department of Education.
Only two pupils were still attending the school at the time of reporting, as arrangements had been made to move around 50 pupils from FL to COBS in September 2021.
Pupils received different total hours of education, a significant proportion of which were claimed to be unsupervised “home study”, the report said.
Auditors recommended the board “establish the legitimacy or otherwise” of claims about bills issued by the school for unsupervised “home studies.”
The Flexible Learning School (pictured), led by director Shamim Akhtar, saw its bank balance rise from less than £26,000 in 2018 to more than £760,000 in 2021, according to Companies House records.
The report also says that an FL invoice record from May 2021 showed pupils receiving 20 hours of education per week (a significant proportion of which was “home study”), less than the DfE’s recommendation of 21 to 25 weekly hours.
According to the report, the school charged £75 per hour for a group of three pupils and £25 per hour for online tuition and home study.
The report said that no one in the service area could explain exactly what was provided for these teaching arrangements. Auditors were “particularly concerned” about home study and questioned whether it was good value for money if there was no tuition or supervision of pupils.
A source told MailOnline that a conciliation process was started to determine whether pupils were being taught during ‘home study’, but due to a lack of data, most of the bills ended up being paid.
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘The Exclusions Team no longer commissions any places from the Flexible Learning Group.
“To resolve a conflict that arose between the parties, an agreement was reached with Flexible Learning.”
MailOnline has contacted Flexible Learning School for comment.
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