Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England
Data on suspensions and permanent exclusions, including by reason, duration, by pupil characteristics and data on independent review panels.
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- Department for Education
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Background information
This publication presents statistics on suspensions and permanent exclusions across state-funded schools.
The publication includes data for academic year 2022/23 on:
- reasons schools report for suspending and permanently excluding pupils
- suspensions and permanent exclusions by pupil characteristics
- permanent exclusion independent review panels
The data has been collected in the school census. Data for earlier years is also included.
Headline facts and figures
There were 787,000 suspensions in the 2022/23 academic year
This is an increase from the previous year, when 578,300 suspensions occurred, and the highest recorded annual number of suspensions. This is the equivalent of 933 suspensions per 10,000 pupils.
There were 9,400 permanent exclusions in the 2022/23 academic year
This is an increase from 6,500 in 2021/22 and the highest recorded annual number of permanent exclusions. This is the equivalent of 11 permanent exclusions for every 10,000 pupils.
The most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour
Persistent disruptive behaviour accounted for 48% of all reasons given for suspension and for 39% of reasons for permanent exclusions. This is in line with previous years where this reason was the most commonly recorded.
Suspensions
Suspension rate definition
Suspensions, also known as 'fixed period exclusions', refers to when a pupil is excluded from a school for a set period of time. A suspension can involve a part of the school day and it does not have to be for a continuous period. A pupil may be suspended for one or more periods up to a maximum of 45 school days in a single academic year. This total includes suspensions from previous schools covered by the exclusion legislation.
The suspension rate is calculated as the total number of suspensions, divided by the total number of pupils (x100).
Note on data coverage over the pandemic
While suspensions and permanent were possible throughout the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years, national restrictions will have had an impact on the numbers presented and caution should be taken when comparing across years.
The number and rate of suspensions have increased
The number of suspensions has increased by 36%, from 578,300 in 2021/22 to 787,000 suspensions in 2022/23. The rate of suspensions also increased to 9.33 in 2022/23 from 6.91 in the previous year.
Prior to the pandemic, the number and rate of suspensions had been increasing gradually, primarily driven by increases in secondary schools. 2022/23 had the highest annual number of recorded suspensions.
Suspensions increased across all school types, with the largest proportional increase in secondary schools
Compared to 2021/22, suspensions:
- increased for primary pupils by 27%, from 66,200 to 84,300
- increased for secondary pupils by 38%, from 498,100 to 685,900
- increased for special school pupils by 20%, from 14,000 to 16,800
Number of pupils who were suspended increased by 20%
‘Pupils with one or more suspensions’ refer to pupil enrolments that had at least one suspension across the full academic year. Dual registered pupils with suspensions in multiple schools have each of their enrolments considered separately. This allows for schools to be held accountable for suspensions, as the suspensions are attached to enrolments at a particular school, not the individual pupil.
The total number of pupils with a suspension has increased from 252,500 to 304,000, an increase of 20% from 2021/22. The rate of pupils with a suspension has also increased, to 3.61, or 361 pupils in every 10,000.
Suspensions were highest in the 2022/23 Summer term, with 276,000 suspensions. This was driven by a peak in both primary and secondary schools in the Summer term. In previous years suspensions have typically been higher in Autumn term than in Spring and Summer so 2022/23 is a change from that trend.
In special schools the number of suspensions decreased each term from Autumn in the latest two academic years.
Persistent disruptive behaviour continued to be the most common reason for suspension
Prior to 2020/21, a single reason could be recorded for each suspension and permanent exclusion. From 2020/21, up to three reasons could be recorded. These reasons were recorded without weighting or prioritisation. As such, the sum of the number of reasons will not match the total number of suspensions or permanent exclusions from 2020/21.
As multiple reasons could be recorded, the table below and underlying data refer to a total of 927,100 reasons given for the 787,000 suspensions in 2022/23.
The most common reason recorded for suspension was persistent disruptive behaviour, there were 444,700 instances where this reason for suspension was recorded, 48% of all reasons given. This was followed by verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult, with 148,800 instances (16%) of this reason and physical assault against a pupil in 124,300 instances (13%).
Permanent exclusions
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). A rate of 0.01 would be equivalent to 1 permanent exclusion for every 10,000 pupils.
While permanent exclusions and suspensions were possible throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions will have had an impact on the numbers presented and caution should be taken when comparing across years.
The number and rate of permanent exclusions have increased
The number of permanent exclusions has increased by 44% from 6,500 in 2021/22 to 9,400 in 2022/23. The rate of permanent exclusions also increased to 0.11 from 0.08. This is the equivalent of 11 in every 10,000 pupils.
The current year is the highest recorded annual number of permanent exclusions. Although permanent exclusions were relatively stable before the pandemic, the longer time trend over the past 10 years has been a gradual increase.
Permanent exclusions increased across all school types
Compared to 2021/22, permanent exclusions:
- increased for primary pupils by 58%, from 760 to 1,200
- increased for secondary pupils by 42%, from 5,700 to 8,100
- increased for special school pupils by 53%, from 80 to 120
Secondary schools continued to account for the majority (86%) of permanent exclusions, with a rate of 0.22. While the number of permanent exclusions is low in special schools, the rate (0.08) is higher than in primary (0.03).
The rate of permanent exclusions in 2022/23 was consistent across terms
Across all schools, the rate of permanent exclusions were broadly stable in each term, with some fluctuations in numbers.
The chart below shows the number of permanent exclusions in each term from Autumn term 2018/19, and shows the impact of national restrictions and school closures in the 2019/20 Summer term and also the 2020/21 Spring term where the number of permanent exclusions decreased heavily.
Persistent disruptive behaviour continued to be the most common reason for permanent exclusion
Prior to 2020/21, a single reason could be recorded for each suspension and permanent exclusion. From 2020/21, up to three reasons could be recorded. These reasons were recorded without weighting or prioritisation. As such, the sum of the number of reasons will not match the total number of suspensions or permanent exclusions from 2020/21.
As multiple reasons could be recorded, the table below and underlying data refer to a total of 12,900 reasons given for the 9,400 permanent exclusions in 2022/23.
The most common reason recorded for permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour. There were 5,000 permanent exclusions where this reason was recorded, 39% of all reasons given. This was followed by physical assault against a pupil, with 2,000 permanent exclusions including this reason (15%) and verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult with 1,600 permanent exclusions including these reasons (12%).
Pupil characteristics
Suspension and permanent exclusion rates continue to be higher for males, FSM eligible pupils and pupils with special educational needs
The table below shows these suspension and permanent exclusion rates broken down by sex, free school meal eligibility (FSM), special educational need provision (SEN) and year group. For context, the suspension rate for 2022/23 was 9.33 and the permanent exclusions rate was 0.11. Data where sex, FSM status, SEN, year group and ethnicity are unclassified/unknown are not presented in the tables due to very low numbers, which lead to volatile rates.
Sex - Males have over 1.5 times the rate of suspensions than females; 11.66 compared to 6.91, and more than twice the rate of permanent exclusions, 0.15 compared to 0.07 for females.
Free school meals (FSM) - The suspension rate for FSM eligible pupils is almost four times that for non FSM eligible pupils; 21.70 compared to 5.47. The permanent exclusion rate for FSM eligible pupils is almost five times the rate for non FSM eligible; 0.29 compared 0.06.
Special educational needs (SEN) - The rate of suspensions among those pupils who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan is 21.60 which is lower than for those with SEN without an EHC plan (SEN support) at 24.42. This compares to 6.38 for pupils with no SEN. The rate of permanent exclusions among those pupils who have an EHC plan is 0.20, which, like suspensions, is lower than for those with SEN without an EHC plan (SEN support) at 0.37. This compares to 0.07 for pupils with no SEN.
Age - The suspensions and permanent exclusions rates tends to increase as age and year group increase, to a point. The highest rate for suspensions was age 13 and permanent exclusions age 14, before drops for both in higher ages.
This follows similar trends seen in recent years.
Rates vary by ethnicity
Gypsy/Roma pupils and Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils continue to have the highest rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions.
Pupils in the Chinese ethnic group also continue have the lowest rates of suspensions and lowest rates of permanent exclusions along with the Indian ethnic group in 2022/23.
Exclusion reviews
Parents (and pupils if aged over 18) are able to request an independent review of a permanent exclusion. An independent review panel’s role is to review the decision of the governing body not to reinstate a permanently excluded pupil. The panel must consider the interests and circumstances of the excluded pupil, including the circumstances in which the pupil was excluded and have regard to the interests of other pupils and people working at the school.
The number of independent reviews lodged in 2022/23 was 676, an increase from 480 in 2021/22.
59% of exclusions were upheld at the independent review panel, similar to the percentage of 58% in 2021/22.
Note on data coverage over the pandemic
The School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (England) Regulations 2012 were amended to give school governing bodies and local authorities more time to review suspensions and permanent exclusions and to explicitly allow for meetings to be conducted via video- or tele-conference facilities during the COVID-19 outbreak. In response to coronavirus (COVID-19), some temporary changes were made which applied to school suspension and permanent exclusion between 1 June and 24 September 2020 (inclusive of those dates) and 25 September up until 24 March 2022.
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England statistics and data:
Attendance and exclusions statistics team
Email: schools.statistics@education.gov.ukContact name: Attendance and exclusions statistics team
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