Worrying trends in school exclusions continue, new statistics show

The Department for Education (DfE) has published the school exclusion statistics for the autumn term of 2023/2024, showing that both permanent exclusions and suspensions remain at high levels, continuing the worrying trend revealed in the annual figures for the 2022/23 academic year, published last July.

This release comes as the government turns its attention to improving wellbeing in schools, with the Government aiming to put children and their wellbeing at the centre of the education and children’s social care systems through the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which has not yet been published.

Coram Children’s Legal Centre is particularly concerned by the regional variations in statistics on suspensions and exclusions of pupils with protected characteristics, such as pupils listed as being of Black Caribbean, Gypsy, Roma or Traveller ethnicities, or pupils with a special educational need (SEN) but no Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.

Key findings from the school exclusion statistics:

• 346,300 suspensions, an increase of 40% compared to the autumn term 2022/23 when there were 247,400 suspensions. The suspension rate* was 4.13, an increase from 2.96 in the autumn term 2022/2023, and from 1.62 in the autumn term 2016/17.
• 4,200 permanent exclusions, an increase of 34% compared to the autumn term 2022/23 when there were 3,100 permanent exclusions. The permanent exclusion rate was 0.05, an increase from 0.04.
• 660,463 days of education missed due to suspensions.
• 37,695 suspensions in primary schools, an increase of 41% compared to the autumn term 2022/23. The suspension rate in primary schools was 0.83, an increase from 0.58. The number of permanent exclusions in primary schools exceeded 500, reaching a total of 511.
• The suspension rate was lowest in London and highest in the North East and Yorkshire and The Humber, where it was nearly three times higher than in London.
• The North East and Yorkshire and The Humber had the highest rates of suspensions for “persistent disruptive behaviour”, with 63% and 58% of suspensions in these areas attributed to this reason, compared to 36% in London. In the top 10 local authorities most likely to cite “persistent disruptive behaviour” as the reason for suspension, all but one were in the North East and Yorkshire and The Humber. Suspension rates for this reason in these areas were at least twice as high as those in the 10 local authorities where it was cited least frequently.
• The South West had the highest suspension rate for Black Caribbean pupils, at 8.8 per 100 pupils – 85% higher than the lowest rate in Outer London (4.7).
• For Gypsy/Roma pupils, Yorkshire and The Humber reported the highest suspension rate by far, at 32 per 100 pupils overall and notably 79 per 100 in secondary schools. This was more than double the rate in the second highest region and over five times the rate in Outer London.
• Yorkshire and The Humber, along with the North East, had the highest suspension rate for pupils of ‘Traveller of Irish Heritage’ ethnicity, at 20 per 100 pupils – roughly three times the rate in Outer London.
• The South West had the highest suspension rate for SEN pupils without an EHC plan, at 16.4 per 100 pupils. Suspension rates in the South West, Yorkshire and The Humber, and the North East were approximately three times higher than in Inner and Outer London. In these regions, over 10% of SEN pupils without an EHC plan were suspended at least once.