Exclusion from school

There are 2 kinds of exclusion.

Fixed-term and permanent 

A fixed-term exclusion is when a headteacher asks you to keep your child at home for a fixed number of days. A fixed-term exclusion cannot be more than 45 school days in one school year.

Permanent exclusions are when a child is taken off the school roll (register) completely. The letter must give the day, date and time when the exclusion begins.

If your child is excluded, the headteacher will let you know. They’ll send you a letter, which must say:

• the type of exclusion it is (fixed-term or permanent)
• the reason for the exclusion
• the dates when your child is not allowed in a public place (first five days)
• what the homework is and how to return it for marking
• details about your right to appeal against the decision and who to contact
• what the full-time education from school will include, from day six
• a date for an meeting about returning to school for primary-age children if the exclusion is longer than five days, or other exclusions of six days or longer

For either kind of exclusion, ‘Informal’ or ‘unofficial’ exclusions are not allowed. Any exclusion of a pupil must follow a formal process and be properly recorded.

The school must provide plans for suitable full-time education for any child who has been excluded from primary or secondary school.

For the first five school days of an exclusion, parents must make sure that their child is not in a public place during school hours. If they need to be in a public place, there must be a good reason.

If the child attends a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), we will make the arrangements for schoolwork to do at home. This applies from day six of an exclusion.
 

Schools have the power to send a pupil to another education provider to improve their behaviour. The parents do not have to agree for this to happen.

Schools may also use a process called ‘managed move’ to transfer a pupil to another school. For this they need the agreement of parents and the admission authority for the new school.

Schools cannot:

• force a parent to remove their child permanently from the school
• keep a child out of school for any period of time without formally excluding them
   

Parents can question the decisions for permanent exclusions. 

The school’s governing board must consider whether the pupil should be allowed back within 15 school days of being told about the exclusion.

If you feel you've been discriminated against in the exclusion process (like if he/she has a disability) parents can:

• request an independent review panel to review the governing board’s decision
• ask for a Special Educational Needs (SEN) expert to attend