THE number of suspensions from school has risen significantly, according to an annual government report.
Last year, exclusions totalled 412, which was up on the two previous years, with 314 in 2020 and 355 in 2019.
Following the release of the data, children’s commissioner Deborah McMillan said that the government had yet to ‘produce any meaningful plan of action’ to tackle the issue.
The figures were highlighted in the government’s performance report, which compared 2021’s exclusion rate with the 2018/19 academic year.
Mrs McMillan said: ‘The issue of school exclusions remains one of great concern, and we have yet to see the government produce any meaningful plan of action to tackle it. For this reason, later in the year, my office will be undertaking a piece of work looking at what, exactly, the data shows, and what can be done to lower the exclusion rates.’
She added: ‘The reason we are waiting until the autumn to do this is that we will need the data from this academic year to compare with data from pre-Covid years. This is the best way to get the clearest possible picture of why we have such a high number of children outside of the classroom.
‘We also believe that it is important to hear directly from children themselves, as there appears to be little qualitative research in this area. Our project will focus on gaining a better understanding of the lived experiences of children who are not in school, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups. We will also hear from children whose education is being disrupted because of the behaviour of other pupils in lessons.’
In the 2021 annual report, the acting director-general for the Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department, Rob Sainsbury, wrote that exclusions ‘were noted to increase in 2021’, and work would be under way this year to ‘further analyse the data to understand the reasons behind this trend’.
He added that ‘broadly’ attainment had remained in line with pre-pandemic levels.
The government was approached for comment but the JEP had not received a response at the time of going to print.
