Pupil suspensions increased by 12 per cent in England in the spring term last year compared with the previous year, according to newly released data.
Department for Education data shows there were 295,559 pupils suspended in spring term in 2023-24, up from 263,904 in same term in 2022-23. The suspension rate per 100,000 pupils also increased to 3.5 last spring term, up from 3.13 in spring 2022-23.
The number of permanent exclusions in the spring term also increased very marginally, with 3,107 in 2023-24, compared with 3,039 the previous year. The rate per 100,000 pupils remained flat at 0.04 over both periods.
The latest figures come amid warnings of a rise in challenging behaviour in classrooms following the pandemic.
Increase in suspensions and inclusions
The number of suspensions in spring 2024 was nearly double the figure for spring 2019 - an increase of 93 per cent - when there were 153,465 suspensions recorded.
Nationally, though, both suspensions and permanent exclusions were down in spring term 2023-24 compared with autumn term 2023-24. The suspension rate for that autumn term was 4.13 (346,300 suspensions) while there were 4,200 permanent exclusions at a rate of 0.05.
The most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour, the DfE said.
Commenting on the data, Steve Haines, director of public affairs at young people’s charity Impetus, said that the fact more than 295,000 pupils were suspended and 3,000 permanently excluded was a “stark warning”. He urged the government to invest £850 million over five years in improving inclusion in schools.
“Our schools are not set up to support the needs of all students,” he said. “Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, in particular, are four times more likely to be suspended and five times more likely to be excluded than their better-off peers, with knock-on effects that can impact the rest of their lives.”
In the spring term of 2023-24, there were 176,200 suspensions that included the reason “persistent disruptive behaviour”, representing 51 per cent of all reported reasons. This was down from 204,790 in the autumn term but up 17 per cent on the previous spring term.
“Verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult” as a reason for suspension also increased year on year, up from 49,376 in spring term 2022-23 to 54,152 in 2023-24 - a near 10 per cent increase. It was, however, down from 64,427 in the autumn term 2023-24.
The average number of days missed per suspended pupil was 3.52 in the spring term of 2024, with a total of 571,572 days of suspension. Although this was down from the average of 3.84 in the autumn term, it remained higher than pre-pandemic levels and the figure from spring term 2022-23, which was 3.44.
Additionally, 1,656 permanent exclusions included “persistent disrupted behaviour” as a reason, representing 38 per cent of all reported reasons. This was a slight increase from the 37.95 per cent of all exclusions in spring term 2022-23 and up from 35.84 per cent in autumn 2023-24.
Regional breakdown
The North East was the region with the highest rates of suspension and permanent exclusion in spring term 2024. The suspension rate was 5.82 per 100,000, with a total of 22,961 pupils suspended. The North East’s permanent exclusion rate was 0.07 last spring.
Outer London had the lowest rate of suspension at 1.66, with 14,496 pupils suspended in the spring term of 2024.
Although the North East had the highest rate of permanent exclusions in the spring term of 2024, the region with the highest raw number of permanent exclusions was the North West, with 599.
The South East, Inner London and Outer London shared the lowest rate of permanent exclusions, with 0.2.
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