Pupils, including students in the sixth form, at Birmingham Independent College have often experienced several previous school placements before starting here. While the school provides pupils with another chance to succeed in education, it is not keeping its pupils as safe as it should. The curriculum does not teach pupils enough about important issues, such as some of the risks that they might face outside school. While some pupils said that they feel safe and happy at school, several other pupils are unable to communicate how they feel. The school does not have effective systems to develop pupils’ ability to communicate their worries or concerns. This puts them at potential risk of harm. Many pupils arrive disengaged with education. Staff work successfully to re-engage pupils with learning. They support pupils’ social and emotional development well by building strong, trusting relationships. As a result, pupils show positive attitudes to their learning and behave well. The school has high expectations for those pupils who follow the academic pathway. Staff support these pupils well so that they can achieve their targets and progress to the next stage of their education. However, there is an increasing proportion of pupils with complex special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school has not provided staff with the training that they need to support these pupils as well as they could. Although staff provide effective support to pupils to gain some level of independence, the curriculum does not enable these pupils to achieve well.