Link between violence and suspensions prompts calls for better pupil support

The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) charity report finds that, even when accounting for a range of factors including behavioural difficulties, children who are suspended or excluded from school are four-and-a-half times more likely to offend compared with those who have not been suspended or excluded and nearly two-and-a-half times more likely to become involved in violence.

While the YEF acknowledges the "well-established" relationship between suspension, exclusion, absence and later offending it claims that the study "does suggest that suspensions, exclusions and absences are likely to be risk factors for later involvement in violence, even once an array of other contextual and risk factors are accounted for", adding: “This reinforces the urgent need for policymakers to empower schools to provide the right support to the most vulnerable children when they are suspended, excluded or absent.”