Schools failing pupils, charity says, as exclusions top 10,000

More than 10,000 pupils were permanently excluded from England's state schools last year, alongside record numbers of suspensions of children under seven or with special needs.

- Sally Weale Richard Adams

Official data for the 2023-24 academic year shows that permanent exclusions were up 16% on the year before. The number of suspension days rose by 21% to 955,000.

Four in every 100 pupils received at least one suspension during the year, with more than 100,000 excluded for at least five days. The vast majority of sanctions were in secondary schools, peaking at the ages 13 to 14. However, behavioural problems are rising rapidly in primary schools among children whose earliest education was disrupted by the pandemic.

Figures from the Department for Education showed the number of suspensions in primary schools topped 100,000 for the first time, while 471 under-sevens were expelled.