Permanent exclusion rate definition
A permanent exclusion refers to a pupil who is excluded and who will not come back to that school (unless the exclusion is overturned). This data only includes permanent exclusions which have been upheld by the governing body or Independent Review Panel (IRP), and not those which are still ongoing. The permanent exclusion rate is calculated as the number of permanent exclusions divided by the number of pupils (x100)
The rate of permanent exclusions has remained stable
for a second successive year, at 0.10, and the number of permanent exclusions has reduced slightly, to 7,894 in 2018/19. This is equivalent to 10 pupils per 10,000.
This rate has also remained fairly stable across all school types
- The rate of permanent exclusions in primary schools was 0.02 (2 pupils per 10,000). This is a reduction from 0.03 in 2017/18
- The rate of permanent exclusions in secondary schools was 0.20 (20 pupils per 10,000). This is unchanged from 2017/18 and 2016/17.
- The rate of permanent exclusions in special schools was 0.06 (6 pupils per 10,000), a decrease from 0.07 in 2017/18
The rate of permanent exclusions followed a generally downward trend from 2006/07 when the rate was 0.12 (12 pupils per 10,000) until 2012/13, and began rising until 2016/17. The rate has been stable in 2017/18 and 2018/19. Despite the increases from 2012/13 to 2016/17, rates are still lower now than in 2006/07.
Data on the number of exclusions in pupil referral units has been collected since 2013/14. The number of exclusions in pupil referral units has increased from 27 to 36 in 2018/19. The rate of permanent exclusions has increased to 0.16 in 2017/18 to 0.22 in 2018/19.