Alternative Education 

We offer bespoke Alternative Education Provision for KS2 – KS4 and for 16+ young people. 

Group and Individual Learning Options

Where possible, our education services are delivered in a group setting, with an individual offer available for those who struggle to engage in a group environment.

Empowering Young People Through Qualifications

Our educational offer empowers young people to achieve accredited qualifications and develop the skills required to ultimately successfully engage in education, volunteering, or employment.

Ambitious, Confidence-Building Approach

The offer is ambitious for young people and boosts self-esteem, with a view to creating a mindset of “Anything is Possible” and improving the long-term trajectory of young lives.

Practical, Accessible Learning

Sessions are practical, involving hands-on learning with all theory taught in a practical, accessible way—without the need for classroom-based work, where students struggle to engage in classroom settings.

  • Available to groups of 8 young people (we can run two programmes at a time on site, so that we can deliver support to up to 16 young people at a time). 

  • Available to groups of young people referred from schools and other support organisations, designed to develop the skills required to successfully engage with education or employment, whilst supporting young people to achieve a qualification. 

  • Developed for young people who struggle to access mainstream education. Programmes are delivered in small groups of young people with similar abilities or can be delivered on an individual basis where appropriate. 

  • This is a one-year programme to support students who dream of working with horses to develop the personal skills and professional qualifications required to make this dream a reality. 

Group of young people in SLTH yard observing loose horses behind a fence

Who can benefit from

alternative education?

Education Programmes for groups are suitable for young people referred from schools and alternative education provisions, especially those who find the traditional classroom setting challenging. We design these sessions to empower young people to develop the skills required to re-engage with education and thrive once back in school.

Education programmes for individuals are suitable for any young person for whom classroom learning is challenging, including those who are school refusers and permanently excluded from education.

“ The students learned so much about themselves as well as acquired the confidence and skills to work with the horses. They’re always surprised and proud of their own achievements when they receive their certificates .”
— Teacher, Park High School

Individual Alternative Education

Tailored educational support for individual young people designed to support the unique needs of students.

  • Curriculum linked learning

  • Range of qualifications available to suit individual needs, including AQA Unit Awards, Kings ’s Trust Qualifications, British Horse Society Changing Lives Through Horses Awards, and British Horse Society Stage Qualifications.

  • A qualified teacher designs programmes that are bespoke to the needs of young people

  • Where possible, young people are supported to join a group of other young people of a similar age and ability level

Full-Day Group Education for Individuals. 10 - 2.30pm

TERMLY RATE: £1,500 per 12 week term per person. 1 day per week.

Full Academic Year: 20% discount = £3,600

One-to-One Support

£120 for 1 hour session (longer packages available on request).

Bursaries available – if cost is a barrier, please complete the bursary form when making a referral

A woman and a young man brushing a horse

Group Alternative Education

12-week employability and life skills programmes for groups of 8 - 16 young people.

  • Develop Life skills including: Teamwork; Communication; Time Management; Leadership

  • Achieve an accredited Employability Skills Qualification (Kings Trust Personal Development & Employability Skills Award) or achieve AQA Unit Awards.

  • Available to private groups referred by schools or other organisations

  • 2 - 3 hour sessions once per week for 12 weeks

    Groups of up to 8:

    The total cost of 12-week programme = £6,031 / £62.75 per person per session.

    Groups of 16:

    The total cost of 12-week programme = £9,046 / £47 per person per session.

    Full Academic Year Bookings: 35% discount

    Bursaries available – if cost is a barrier, please complete the bursary form when making a referral

Group of young children watching a white horse in SLTH arena

“Ofsted have been really impressed by the project at SLTH and the impact on our students”

- Head Teacher

“This is the most successful part of our alternative education curriculum, the students want to come!”

- SENCO

How alternative education works

During education programmes, students are taught how to care for and train horses, including learning about horse psychology and similarities with human brains and behaviour.

The horses pick up on the body language of the young people and give feedback on their behaviour and emotional state, helping them develop interpersonal skills.

Our experienced staff uses the horses’ responses and structured, hands-on tasks around the yard to help students gain the life skills they need to pursue education, training, or employment. 

Our education programmes use real-world equine tasks to develop both practical and personal skills.

  • Horse Psychology and Training: Students learn how horses think and behave, then apply this knowledge to train horses through activities such as obstacle courses and helping horses overcome fear of new objects.

  • Stable and Yard Management: Students take on daily responsibilities, including mucking out stables and fields, horse care, equine first aid, and feeding and nutrition.

  • Life Skills Development: Through these tasks, students build essential life skills such as confidence, perseverance, communication, teamwork, responsibility, and relationship-building.

  • Cross-Curricular Learning: All activities are designed to support learning across key subjects:

    KS4: English, Maths, Science, Computing, Citizenship

    KS3: English, Maths, Science, Computing, Art & Design, Geography, Citizenship

Skills for life and work

Young people gain a wide range of practical and transferable skills, including:

  • Communication and teamwork

  • Confidence and leadership

  • Resilience and time management

  • Literacy and numeracy

  • Presentation and interview skills

Together with our staff, students build a portfolio to evidence their skills, experience, and learning. This portfolio supports them to achieve accredited qualifications — see the qualifications we offer.

At the end of the programme, every student receives a personal reference and, where appropriate, support to find work experience, volunteering, or employment opportunities.

Alternative education

programme outcomes

“Learning to Learn” - equipping young people with the confidence, skills and motivation to enjoy learning

Qualifications and certificates

Interpersonal skills including teamwork and communication skills

Resilience

Interpersonal skills including teamwork and communication skills

Get in touch

Get in touch to explore how we can support the young people you work with. We’ll work with you to design a bespoke alternative education programme tailored to their needs and goals.

No two programmes are the same — each one is tailored around the individual or group, ensuring the support we offer is relevant, meaningful, and impactful.

Qualifications our young people can work towards

  • King's Trust logo

    King's Trust Personal Development and Employability Skills Award

    Equivalent to a BTEC qualification; 12-week programme suitable for EHCP, PP, SEND and mainstream students.  

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  • Changing lives through horses logo

    Changing Lives Through Horses

    Young people who are at risk of becoming disengaged from mainstream education or training. This is a one-year programme; suitable for EHCP, PP, SEND, mainstream, and Electively Home Educated students. 

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  • AQA logo

    AQA Unit Awards

    Entry-level qualification with a focus on skills; a 12-week programme, particularly suitable for students with SEND. 

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  • BHS logo

    The British Horse Society Personal Development Qualification

    The course supports the development of life skills that enable learners to become valuable contributors to society. Young people who are either permanently excluded from or at risk of permanent exclusion from education, SEND, NEET, and Electively Home Educated students.

    Visit Website

Breaking Down Barriers Programme

This course is ideal for learners who already have some experience working with horses and are looking to build a career in the equine industry.

Designed as a one-year programme, it helps students develop the professional knowledge, practical skills, and confidence needed to work with horses independently. On completion, learners gain an industry-recognised qualification that enables them to care for horses without supervision — a key step toward employment in riding schools, yards, or other equine settings.

The course covers six mandatory units:

  1. Principles of Employment Rights and Responsibilities in the Land-Based Industries

  2. Principles of Health and Safety in the Horse Industry

  3. Principles of Routine Horse Care

  4. Principles of Horse Health and Welfare

  5. Principles of Training and Preparing Horses for Work

  6. Principles of Transporting Horses

Young man leading a horse in the SLTH arena

How the Course is Delivered

This programme is delivered one day per week at SLTH, combining hands-on, practical learning with real-world experience. Learners also take part in monthly visits to a range of professional equine settings, including:

  • Equine colleges

  • Racing yards

  • Veterinary colleges

  • Breeding farms

  • Competition stables

The course comprises 156 Guided Learning Hours (GLH) and is designed to provide students with an in-depth introduction to working in the equine industry.

Qualifications Gained

Learners will work towards the following accredited qualifications:

Cost

Course fee: £200 sign-up fee, which is matched at the end of the course to give £400 to spend on equestrian equipment.

Interested?

Secure your spot today. Complete the referral form below, and a member of our team will contact you shortly.

FAQs

  • You make a referral to us, and we’ll work closely with you to understand the individual needs of your student(s). From there, we’ll design a tailored education programme that supports their learning, development, and personal goals. 

  • Our tailored education offer includes the opportunity to gain recognised qualifications, with a strong focus on developing key skills such as teamwork, functional skills, and emotional awareness. Each young person receives a progress report during their programme, as well as a comprehensive End of Programme Outcomes Report. This includes data on improvements in areas such as wellbeing, confidence, teamwork, and more. 

  • At the end of a programme, each young person receives accredited qualification(s) where applicable, a personal reference, and the SLTH Employability and Horsemanship Skills Certificate. They’ll also be awarded a rosette to recognise their achievement and participation. 

  • Programmes typically run for a term (Autumn, Spring, Summer) with students attending for 2 – 3 hours one day a week. We can combine programmes to span the full academic year and our new alternative education offer includes a full day for KS3 (Thursday) and a full day KS4/5 (Tuesday), where students attend SLTH for 4 and ½ hours a day (10-2.30pm). 

  • Our group education programmes are for KS3 and for KS4. Should the need arise we can also offer KS2 group programmes in the future. 

  • Following completion of a course, we have a range of further qualifications and educational courses for young people to progress onto, including our new Level 3 1st4sport Principles of Horse Care and Management qualification (16+). We can of course offer guidance and support for those leaving us and looking for apprenticeships, volunteering or further education outside of our organisation. See our Next Steps document for further details. 

  • Our Education Service Lead, Desrae Le Roux, would be the best placed person to answer your queries and to advise of suitability of courses based around the needs of the individual young person. She has over 24 years experience as a teacher in secondary schools, including 7 years experience as a Deputy Headteacher, and understands the needs of young people in schools and the services and programmes schools are looking for: Desrae@strengthandlearningthroughhorses.org  

  • We empower young people to achieve accredited qualifications and develop the skills required to ultimately successfully engage in education; volunteering or employment. The programmes boost self-esteem and develop a mindset of “Anything is Possible” whilst they take on daily responsibilities including mucking out stables and fields, grooming, equine first aid, and feeding and nutrition. Through these tasks, students build essential life skills such as confidence, perseverance, communication, teamwork, responsibility, and relationship-building. 

  • Any student can benefit from SLTH services. The most important thing when selecting students to bring to SLTH, if bringing a group, is to choose students who can gel as a group. Programmes are less successful when there is a lot of variation of need and age within a group. 

  • Education groups - 8 students completing the Group Employability & Horsemanship 

    Skills Programme, 3 hours per week, for 12 weeks = £6,031 (£62.75 per person per session). If schools bring 2 x groups of 8 students (16 students) = £9,046 (£47 per person per session). If schools commit to bringing students for the full academic year there is a 35% discount offered. 

     

    Alternative education groups - schools can send individual students to join a group for a full day group education programme (10.00 - 2.30pm), with costs being £1,500 per 12 week term per person, 1 day per week. If schools commit to sending a young person for a full academic year a 20% discount is applied, with the total cost being £3,600 per person (three terms: Sept - July). We also offer alternative education for young people on a 1-1 support basis for £120 per 1.5 hours. This can be adapted to the young person/schools need to be 1.5 – 4.5 hours per day, depending on the needs of the young person. 

    If you have any further questions that have not been answered please email: Desrae@strengthandlearningthroughhorses.org who will be happy to help.