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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Headline facts and figures
The rate and number of suspensions decreased from 2023/24 to 2024/25
The rate of suspensions in the 2024/25 academic year was 10.88 (equivalent to 1,088 suspensions for every 10,000 pupils). This is a decrease from 11.31 in 2023/24. There were 913,000 suspensions in 2024/25, a decrease of 4% from 955,000 in 2023/24.
The rate and number of permanent exclusions also decreased from 2023/24 to 2024/25
The rate of permanent exclusions in the 2024/25 academic year was 0.12 (equivalent to 12 permanent exclusions for every 10,000 pupils). This is a decrease from 0.13 in 2023/24. There were 9,900 permanent exclusions in 2024/25, a decrease of 9% from 10,900 in 2023/24.
Persistent disruptive behaviour continued to be the most common reason for suspension
Persistent disruptive behaviour accounted for 52% of all reasons given for suspension and for 40% of reasons for permanent exclusions.
Suspensions
Suspensions previously known as 'fixed period exclusions', refer 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 (multiplied by 100).
The rate and number of suspensions decreased from 2023/24 to 2024/25
The rate of suspensions decreased from 11.31 in the 2023/24 academic year to 10.88 in 2024/25 (equivalent to 1,088 suspensions for every 10,000 pupils). The rate had previously been increasing since the pandemic up to 2023/24.
The number of suspensions had also been increasing from the pandemic to reach 955,000 in 2023/24, then decreased by 4% to 913,000 in 2024/25.
Suspension rates increased in primary schools and decreased in secondary and special schools
Compared to 2023/24, suspension rates:
- increased in primary schools from 2.27 to 2.47
- decreased in secondary schools from 22.61 to 21.24
- decreased in special schools from 12.62 to 12.32
Secondary schools continue to account for the majority (85%) of suspensions.
Note on data coverage over the pandemic
While suspensions and permanent exclusions 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.
Suspension rates peaked in autumn term 2023/24 in secondary and special schools
Since the pandemic, the trend of suspensions was generally upward, but with termly fluctuations, to 2023/24. The rates for the all schools total, and secondary and special schools, peaked in autumn term 2023/24. Primary schools peaked in autumn 2024/25. Term lengths vary, with autumn term tending to be the longest term, and spring and summer terms in each year determined by the date of Easter.
The total suspension rate for 2024/25 were 4.02 in autumn term, 3.72 in spring term and 3.15 in summer term.
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 1,073,500 reasons given for the 913,000 suspensions in 2024/25.
The most common reason recorded for suspension was persistent disruptive behaviour, accounting for 52% (553,800 instances) of all reasons given. This was followed by verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult with 15% (158,200) and physical assault against a pupil with 12% (132,300) of all reasons given.
The rate of pupils with suspensions decreased to 3.89
‘Pupils with one or more suspensions’ refers 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 school's statistics to relate to their own suspensions, as the suspensions are attached to enrolments at a particular school, not the individual pupil.
The rate of pupils with at least one suspension decreased, from 4.04 in 2023/24 to 3.89 in 2024/25, equivalent to 389 pupils in every 10,000. The total number of pupils with at least one suspension decreased by 4% compared to the previous year, from 341,300 to 326,700.
94,400 pupils missed the equivalent of more than one week of school due to suspensions across the academic year
In 2024/25, 46% of suspensions were for one day or less, and 99% of suspensions were for five days or less.
Looking at the cumulative days missed over the academic year, 232,300 pupils missed five days or less (from part of a day to five days). This is 71% of pupils with suspensions. The remaining 29% of pupils with suspensions, 94,400 pupils, missed the equivalent of more than one school week across the academic year. This includes 45,600 (14%) who missed the equivalent of more than two school weeks.
Permanent exclusions
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 (multiplied by 100). A rate of 0.01 would be equivalent to 1 permanent exclusion for every 10,000 pupils.
The rate and number of permanent exclusions have decreased from 2023/24 to 2024/25
The rate of permanent exclusions have decreased from 0.13 in 2023/24 to 0.12 in 2024/25. This is the equivalent of 12 in every 10,000 pupils. The rate increased after the pandemic up to 2023/24.
The number of permanent exclusions increased after the pandemic and reached 10,900 in 2023/24 . It then decreased by 9% to 9,900 in 2024/25.
Permanent exclusion rates were stable in primary and special schools and decreased in secondary schools
Permanent exclusion rates:
- were stable in primary schools at 0.03 in 2023/24 and 2024/25
- decreased in secondary schools from 0.25 in 2023/24 to 0.23 in 2024/25
- were stable in special schools at 0.08 in 2023/24 and 2024/25
Secondary schools continued to account for the majority (84%) of permanent exclusions.
Note on data coverage over the pandemic
While suspensions and permanent exclusions 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.
Total permanent exclusions peaked in the autumn term 2023/24, then decreased
Since the pandemic, the trend of permanent exclusion rates was generally upward, but with termly fluctuations, peaking in autumn 2023/24. This was mainly driven by secondary schools, whilst Special schools peaked in autumn 2024/25 and primary school rates have been broadly consistent.
The permanent exclusion rate across all school phases for 2024/25 were 0.04 in autumn and spring terms and 0.03 in summer term.
Term lengths vary, with autumn term tending to be the longest term, and spring and summer terms in each year determined by the date of Easter.
Persistent disruptive behaviour continued to be the most common reason for permanent exclusions
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 13,300 reasons given for the 9,900 permanent exclusions in 2024/25.
The most common reason recorded for permanent exclusion was persistent disruptive behaviour, accounting for 40% (5,300 instances) of all reasons given. This was followed by physical assault against a pupil with 16% (2,100) and physical assault against an adult with 12% (1,600) of all reasons given.
Pupil characteristics
The section below shows counts and rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions by free school meal (FSM) eligibility, special educational need (SEN) provision, year group, sex and ethnicity. Data for unclassified/unknown sex, FSM status, SEN provision, and year group are not presented in the tables due to very low numbers, which lead to volatile rates.
For context, the overall suspension rate for academic year 2024/25 was 10.88 and the permanent exclusion rate was 0.12.
Pupils with SEN and FSM eligibility continued to have some of the highest rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions
Free school meals (FSM) eligibility
The suspension rate for pupils eligible for FSM continued to be more than four times that of pupils who were not eligible, with rates of 26.66 and 5.41, respectively. Permanent exclusion rates were more than six times higher for FSM-eligible pupils, with a rate of 0.32 compared to 0.05 for pupils who were not eligible.
Special educational needs (SEN)
There are large variations in rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions by Special educational needs (SEN).
The suspension rate for pupils with an Education, health and care (EHC) plan was 26.45, which is more than three times the rate for pupils with no identified SEN at 6.78. The suspension rate for pupils with Special educational needs (SEN) support was 28.86, more than four times the rate for pupils with no identified SEN.
The permanent exclusion rate for pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan was 0.27, more than four times the rate for pupils with no identified SEN at 0.06. The permanent exclusion rate for pupils with SEN support was 0.37, which is six times the rate for pupils with no identified SEN.
Year group
Year 9 had the highest suspension rate in 2024/25 at 30.01. Years 9 and 10 had the highest rates of permanent exclusion at 0.35.
In the primary phase, Year 6 had the highest suspension rate at 3.53 and Year 5 has the highest permanent exclusion rate at 0.05.
Sex
The suspension rate for male pupils was more than 1.5 times that of female pupils, with rates of 13.47 and 8.17, respectively. Male pupils also had a higher permanent exclusion rate of 0.16, which is more than twice that of female pupils, who had a rate of 0.07.
Ethnicity
Gypsy/Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils have the highest rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions consistently over time. However, caution is recommended when interpreting the rates for these ethnicity groups due to relatively small population sizes.
Pupils in the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups continued to have the lowest rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions in 2024/25.
Ethnicity by FSM eligibility
Further information on absence rates by ethnicity and FSM eligibility is available in the data catalogue, or you can create your own tables using the table tool.
State-funded alternative provision
State-funded alternative provision (AP) includes pupil referral units, alternative provision academies and alternative provision free schools.
Suspensions in state-funded alternative provision continued to increase, from 40,200 in 2023/24 to 41,300 in 2024/25. The number of permanent exclusions was small; increasing from 39 in 2023/24 to 50 in 2024/25.
Suspension and permanent exclusion rates for alternative provision are not presented here but are included in the underlying data files. Caution is advised when using these, as alternative provision settings tend to be disproportionately affected by dual subsidiary pupils not being included in the headcount when calculating suspensions and permanent exclusion rates, which may result in rates that appear significantly higher than other phases.
Exclusion reviews
Parents 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 was 777 in 2024/25, a decrease from 810 in 2023/24.
65% of exclusions were upheld at the independent review panel in 2024/25, an increase from 61% in 2023/24.
Further data
The headline figures in this publication cover the full academic year 2024/25 and comparisons to the previous year are presented. The next publication in the series will cover the autumn term 2025/26.
Past releases for autumn terms and spring terms are available via the All releases in the series tab at the top of this publication.
Further data is available in the data catalogue, or you can create your own tables using the table tool including:
- Permanent exclusions and suspensions by pupil characteristics
- Suspensions - Number of days missed
- Suspensions - Duration of suspensions
- Suspensions - Average days missed
- Suspensions - Number of suspensions
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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Telephone: 020 7783 8300
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