Disadvantaged children worst hit by suspensions amid sharp rise
Emily Harle
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Children living in poverty are now the worst impacted by lost learning due to suspension from school, after a sharp increase in England-wide suspensions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the first time, the majority of suspensions are of children living in poverty, with the numbers of suspensions experienced by this group of children rising by 75 per cent post-pandemic, analysis of recent Department for Education data has found.
This comes amid a 30 per cent rise in the number of overall suspensions following the pandemic, with 250,000 more days of learning lost since 2018/19.
More than 3,000 children a day lost access to learning through suspension in 2021/22, and children living in poverty were 3.7 times more likely to be sent home from school than their peers.
Children with special educational needs and disabilities also experience higher rates of suspension, with the analysis finding that this group of children were four times more likely to be sent home.
Rates of suspension for children with social workers were also four times higher than the average.
Racial inequalities were found in the suspension rates, with black Caribbean children being 1.5 times more likely to be suspended than their white peers, and dual-heritage white and black Caribbean children are 1.7 times more likely to lose learning this way.
Irish traveller and gypsy roma traveller populations experience the highest levels of exclusion, with rates being 2.4 and 3.2 times higher respectively.
The analysis was conducted using recent DfE data, and published by the Who’s Losing Learning? Coalition – a new partnership formed by school leadership charity The Difference, youth education charity Impetus and think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research.
The coalition warns that previous research has shown that repeat suspensions can lead to permanent exclusion, and is calling for increased support for schools and teachers to intervene and investigate the cause of poor behaviour.
Kiran Gill, chief executive of The Difference and advisor to The Timpson Review of School Exclusions: said: “We should all be worried about the social injustice that the most marginalised children - who already have the biggest barriers to opportunity outside of school - are those most likely to be losing learning through absence, suspension and exclusion.
“We need tools and policy to support school leaders to take the same rigorous approach to understanding and raising standards in this area of schooling.”
Ben Gadsby, head of policy at Impetus, added: “Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are already less likely to do well at school, get into university and go on to sustained employment. Young people who are excluded or in alternative provision are even less likely.
“This is why it’s vital that we fully understand what can be done to prevent suspensions, which often lead to exclusions, so that all young people are supported to reach their full potential.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of The Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the calls for a focus on the root causes of suspension, saying: “School and college leaders only ever suspend pupils as a last resort but there is clearly a need to look at how to prevent issues from escalating in the first place – and the answer is likely to lie in additional government funding for early intervention, pastoral and mental health support.”
