School Suspensions and Exclusions at Record High

The number of suspensions and permanent exclusions in England have hit record highs, with suspensions rising by more than a third in one year, government data shows. Statistics published on Thursday show that in the school year 2022/2023, there were 786,961 suspensions, up from 578,280 the year before and an increase of 36 percent. Permanent exclusions—when a pupil is expelled and no longer allowed to return to that school—saw an even steeper increase, rising 44 percent from 6,495 in 2021/2022 to 9,376 last year. In line with previous years, “persistent disruptive behaviour” was the top reasons given for the action, accounting for 48 percent of suspensions—where a pupil is excluded from school for a fixed period of time—and 39 percent of exclusions....