New government report reveals huge surge in school expulsions

Astonishing new figures from the department of education show that there has been a 15% rise in the number of pupils who were expelled from state schools between 2015-16 and 2016-17. The figures rose from 6,685 to 7,720 - disturbingly high statistics for something so serious as expulsion, even though they represent the whole of the UK.

A 15% rise in expulsions over 2 years is a precipitous increase, and many head teachers have said this is due to cuts to recent cuts in mental health and behaviour programmes. Government representatives have said that expulsion should only be used as a last resort - but one would think that it is always the last option anyway, since there is of course nothing further the school can do once the pupil has been permanently excluded.

The figures correspond to 0.1% of the school population being expelled a year, up from 0.08% the previous year. While this percentage looks reassuringly low, it should be noted that this actually amounts to somewhere around 40 pupils per day being expelled.

The concerning matter is what happens to these pupils after they have been permanently excluded. It can be hard to gain admittance to a school at the best of times, and with the cleanest of introductory letters - trying to get into a new school after having just being expelled from another may well prove to be a challenge. Of course the longer it takes, the further behind the pupil will get in their studies - and even if they somehow manage to be accepted into another school with convenient alacrity, they may find their new peers studying different parts of the syllabus.

There is of course an argument that no pupil should ever be expelled. Upon accepting a pupil, that school takes on the responsibility for their education - by expelling the pupil they are abnegating that responsibility, and passing the issue onto someone else. The reality is however that some pupils are just so disruptive that they dominate each lesson, and unduly impinge upon their colleagues` learning. In this case there can perhaps be no other option but expulsion.

Some of the results of the report, entitled Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions in England: 2016 to 2017, make for depressing reading. Those pupils residing in the poorest areas are apparently four times more likely to be permanently excluded - and (perhaps most concerning) children who have a recognised special educational need account for about half of all expulsions.

The leader of the Head teachers union, the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, was clear that funding cuts and restrictions of children`s services (such as youth clubs) are to blame for the recent rise in pupil exclusions:

`Schools have had to cut back on the individual support they are able to give students, making it more difficult to provide early intervention, and prevent behavioural problems from escalating. At the same time council support services for vulnerable families have been cut back, meaning that schools are having to pick up the pieces.

`Schools only exclude pupils as a last resort and when all other avenues have been exhausted. The government needs to provide the funding that`s necessary to provide support at an early stage.`

The report revealed that 83% of expulsions took place in secondary schools - an interesting statistic in itself. The most common reason for expulsion was cited as Persistent disruptive behaviour. This reveals that pupils are most likely to be excluded for an accumulation of misdemeanours, committed over a period of time, rather than a single bad deed.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb commented that the government will be looking into the findings of the review, and will be developing alternative options for pupils who find themselves outside mainstream education:

`Whilst we know there has been an increase in exclusions there are still fewer than the peak ten years ago.

`We recognise some groups of pupils are more likely to be excluded than others which is why we launched an externally-led review to look at how schools are using exclusions and why certain groups are disproportionately affected.

`We are also transforming alternative provision to improve outcomes for children in non-mainstream education, which is backed by a £4m innovation fund.`