Suspensions and permanent exclusions – general principles
This section of guidance should be read in conjunction with the following statutory DfE guidance:
The decision to suspend or permanently exclude any child from school, either for a fixed period or permanently, represents a significant intervention in that child and family’s life. It can have consequences for their development and wellbeing for many years after the exclusion itself.
To remain consistent with the principle that keeping children in education is everyone’s business, it's crucial that all responsible lead professionals work in collaboration with schools to ensure that where there's a risk of suspension or permanent exclusion that this is addressed as a core part any the multi-agency assessment and plan.
The current DfE statutory guidance on exclusion says:
- only the headteacher of a school can suspend or permanently exclude a pupil, and this must be on disciplinary grounds
- a pupil may be suspended for one or more fixed periods (up to a maximum of 45 school days in a single academic year); a suspension does not have to be for a continuous period
- permanent exclusion should only be used as a last resort, in response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school’s behaviour policy; and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school
- the decision to exclude a pupil must be lawful, reasonable and fair
Research highlights that young people subject to exclusion - and in particular permanent exclusion - are more likely to:
- Have experienced poverty
- Be part of disadvantaged groups and/or have special education needs
- Be eligible for free school meals
- Have, or have had a social worker in the past
- Have emotional or mental health difficulties
- Be at risk of being a victim or perpetrator of crime
- Fail to achieve good passes in English and Maths at GCSE
It follows that any lead professional working to promote the safety and wellbeing of a child should ensure that where risk of exclusion is identified, there's a timely, specific and child-focused analysis response with the aim of preventing or reducing the risk of exclusion (Timpson, 2019; London Assembly, 2019; RSA. 2020).
In-school processes to address problematic behaviour and ensure that children and parents take responsibility for their actions remain central to any behavioural management strategy. However, whilst zero-tolerance behaviour policies can provide boundaries that enable the majority of pupils to flourish, in some cases these policies can escalate difficulties, creating cycles of punishment and poor behaviour. These may result in rapid exclusions that may have been avoided if the systems around the child had recognised and attempted to address the underlying causes of difficult behaviour earlier (London Assembly, 2019; Valdebenito et. al, 2019).
A strong theme recurring across research is the centrality of strong relationships in a child’s life as protective factor against exclusion. Exclusions often arise following the breakdown in relationships between children, parents/carers and those responsible for their education.
This reinforces the importance of promoting positive relationships with teaching and pastoral staff in school to ensure that children and young people are ‘responded to as whole individual human beings, their views valued and their responses… taken seriously’ (Lloyd & Kendrick, 2003 p90).
Page last updated: 16 January 2023
