School suspensions hit record levels

• School suspensions hit record levels, with over 260,000 suspensions in Spring term 2022/23
• There were over 3,000 permanent exclusions in Spring term 2022/23, a slight decrease from the previous term (Autumn term 2022/23) but up 40 per cent from nearly 2,200 pupils in the previous Spring term (2021/22)

Commenting on today’s Government release of the latest school exclusions and suspension data – for Spring term 2023 – Beth Prescott, Education Lead at the Centre for Social Justice, said:

“These latest government figures reveal an unfolding crisis in the number of suspensions from schools, with suspensions increasing to new record levels. 

The data shows that there were over 260,000 suspensions in Spring term 2022/23 – a new termly record level. There were also over 3,000 permanent exclusions in Spring term 2023, a slight decrease on the previous term (Autumn 2022) but a 40 per cent increase on the previous spring term (Spring 2021/22).

Our recent “Suspending Reality” reports highlighted how the impact of the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, and the steady increase in the level of SEND over the last decade are all contributing to a tidal wave of challenges hitting children, families and schools. This is being played out across our education system, with record levels of suspensions and record levels of children severely absent from school.

Our research uncovered that pupils who experience suspension or exclusion are disproportionately from disadvantaged backgrounds. Disadvantaged pupils often face additional barriers to their education, such as a lack of access to food, clothing and study resources. These concerns are reflected in today’s statistics, with children on Free School Meals four times more likely to be suspended than their more affluent peers. 

Exclusion can have an enduring adverse impact on a child’s life. Previous research has shown that just 7 per cent of children who were permanently excluded and 18 per cent of children who received multiple suspensions went on to achieve good passes in English and Maths GCSEs. Excluded pupils are also far more likely to be economically inactive aged 25 and have far higher rates of involvement with the criminal justice system.

Ministers must urgently get a grip of this unfolding crisis, by introducing a national inclusion framework for schools, so schools are better equipped to support pupils to overcome any additional vulnerabilities that may prevent them from engaging in their education, and by rolling out a National Parental Participation Strategy, to help schools and parents engage more meaningfully with each other.”