School suspensions and exclusions in England reach record high

Glasgow Times

10-07-2025

There were 954,952 suspensions in the 2023/24 academic year, compared with 786,961 in 2022/23 – an increase of more than a fifth (21%) in a year.
There were 10,885 permanent exclusions in 2023/24, compared with 9,376 the year before – a rise of 16%, according to the Department for Education (DfE) data.
The rise comes amid warnings of challenging behaviour in classrooms following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Suspensions – which are when a pupil is excluded from a school for a set period of time – in primary schools rose by nearly a quarter in a year.
Figures released on Thursday show that suspensions for pupils in state primary schools rose by 24%, from 84,264 in 2022/23 to 104,803 in 2023/24.
Meanwhile, suspensions for secondary school pupils rose by 21% in a year, from 685,930 to 829,896.
Persistent disruptive behaviour was the most common reason for sanctions, accounting for 51% of all reasons given for suspension and 39% for exclusion.
Suspensions and exclusions peaked in the 2023/24 autumn term, where there were 346,279 suspensions and 4,168 permanent exclusions in a single term.
The number of suspensions and exclusions in England is the highest since at least 2016/17, when the latest DfE data begins.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders' union NAHT, said: 'Schools have a duty to provide a safe environment for all pupils and only use suspensions and exclusions when other options to ensure this have been exhausted.
'The reasons for disruptive behaviour often lie beyond the school gates and have their roots in wider challenges, including everything from poverty to access to support with special educational needs and mental ill-health.
'Schools work tirelessly to support pupils, but they alone cannot address the causes and symptoms of poor behaviour.
'They need back-up in the shape of additional investment in vital services like social care, children's mental health, behaviour support teams, and special educational needs provision, which have been reduced or failed to keep up with demand over the last decade.'
Sophie Schmal, director of Chance UK charity, said: 'The latest figures released today reveal a shocking picture, particularly for some of our youngest and most vulnerable children.
'When you have children as young as five and six years old being permanently excluded from school, then clearly something is going very wrong.
'Every day, we see children and families being let down by a system that is failing to support them early enough.'