- 300,000 suspensions in Spring 2024, up 12 per cent on previous year
- 3,000 pupils permanently excluded in Spring, up 2 per cent on previous Spring term
- CSJ calls on government to “get a grip of the mayhem going on in our classrooms that is sending the numbers soaring”
Commenting on today’s Government release of the latest school exclusions and suspension data – Spring term 2023/24 – Beth Prescott, Education Lead at the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), said:
“Today’s suspensions and permanent exclusions figures display an education system in disarray.
“New data released by the Department for Education shows there were 295,559 suspensions in Spring 2024 – a new Spring term record and 12 per cent increase on the previous year (Spring 2023). There were 3,107 permanent exclusions in Spring 2024 – also a new Spring term record number and a 2 per cent increase on the previous year (Spring 2023).
“Children from low-income households or with special education needs are more likely to be excluded. Children on Free School Meals are nearly six times more likely to be permanently excluded than their peers. Children in receipt of SEN support are over five times more likely to be permanently excluded than a child with no identified SEN.
“The CSJ’s recent Lost Boys report uncovered how boys are also more likely to be excluded. We continue to see this in today’s data, with boys more than twice as likely to be permanently excluded than girls.
“CSJ research has revealed that many schools are continuing to struggle with the impact of the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, high levels of mental illness in children, and rising levels of SEND. In addition to exclusions, our research has identified record levels of severe absence from school, with now 170,000 children missing more than half of their education. The absence crisis is fuelling the nation’s economic crisis, with almost one million young people now not in education, employment or training (NEET).
“Exclusion is an important protection for teachers and other pupils’ education, but the Government must now get a grip of the mayhem going on in our classrooms that is sending the numbers soaring. The CSJ is calling for an urgent review of behavioural standards, a new national parental engagement strategy, an inclusion framework for schools, and a new Right to Sport for secondary-age pupils. Without radical action we will see lifelong consequences for our children’s lives, for wider society and for the economy.”
Susie Besant, Chief Executive of One-Eighty in Oxfordshire (2024 CSJ Award Winners), added:
“The numbers released today reflect what One-Eighty is seeing on the ground – persistently high rates of school exclusion. These are symptoms of a system under immense strain.
“We work with those falling through the cracks, often due to unmet mental health needs, neurodiversity, and undiagnosed SEND. Too often, exclusion happens simply because the right support wasn’t available early enough.
“Without action, too many will face limited life chances long before they reach adulthood.
“This is an issue of social justice. We cannot afford to wait.”
