One in 12 pupils 'in isolation at least weekly'

One in 12 secondary pupils report being put into school isolation rooms at least once a week where they often spend in excess of eight hours, missing more than a full day of lessons, according to research.

- Sally Weale Education correspondent

Children with special educational needs were more than twice as likely to be placed in isolation, otherwise known as internal exclusion. Pupils on free school meals were also more than one and a half times more likely to be placed in isolation than their wealthier peers, the University of Manchester research found.

Children who identified as LGBTQ+ were nearly twice as likely and Black, Asian and mixed heritage children were also more likely to be in isolation than their white British peers.

The use of isolation, and in particular isolation booths, is a growing source of concern among some parents, who complain about an overly punitive system that harms their child's education and mental health.

Isolation usually involves removing a pupil from a class for disruptive behaviour and asking them to work alone or in silence in a separate room, but parents complain children can be put into isolation for minor breaches of school rules which those with complex behaviours and special needs may find difficult to adhere to.