A chain of fee-paying alternative provision schools in Suffolk attended by vulnerable children has been rated ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted.

Include Suffolk, run by London-based social business Catch22, is an independent, alternative provision educational setting for five to 11 year olds who live with social, emotional and/or mental health needs (SEMH) or autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).

The schools are based in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Lowestoft. The annual fee per pupil is £19,076.

They were rated ‘good’ after Ofsted’s first visit in 2013 but have been given an overall judgement of ‘requires improvement’ after an inspection last month.

Broken down, leadership, the quality of teaching and pupil outcomes were ranked ‘requires improvement’. But personal development, behaviour and welfare was rated ‘good’.

A total of 52 pupils attend the three schools. Most are at risk of exclusion or have been excluded previously. They have a history of poor attendance and challenging behaviour. They attend full-time, typically for up to three terms, before returning to their mainstream primary schools.

Ofsted’s lead inspector John Randall wrote: “Leaders and proprietors have allowed the school’s overall effectiveness to deteriorate (but) recent changes to the leadership structure are providing the necessary support to rectify matters.

“The school’s self-evaluation is overly generous (but) leaders have recently introduced a new system that provides more accurate and reliable assessment information.”

He described the curriculum as “adequate” and praised cooking, art, music and culture lessons.

A spokesman for Include Suffolk said: “Our priority is improving outcomes for young people with emotional and mental health needs. We are pleased inspectors recognise the great improvements that new leadership has made in the last three months.

“The personal development, behaviour, safeguarding and welfare services of the school have consistently been rated ‘good’, with 90% of our pupils and parents either happy or very happy with the support provided.”

A Suffolk County Council spokesman says: “While there is a degree of disappointment, we are pleased that key aspects of support around personal development, behaviour and welfare remain ‘good’. We are working closely with the school.”