Adopted children are around 20 times more likely to be permanently excluded from school than their classmates, a new survey has found.

Nearly a quarter of adopted children have been temporarily excluded from school, according to the survey by Adoption UK.

The charity’s survey, which was responded to by more than 2,000 adoptive parents, found that 1.63 per cent of adopted children were permanently excluded in 2015-16 - 20 times higher than the rate for the overall pupil population (0.08 per cent).

It revealed that 23 per cent of parents reported that their children had been temporarily excluded during their time at school.

Adoption UK admitted that its survey was “self-selecting” and should be seen as “indicative rather than scientific”. But it said it still raised “serious concerns that adopted children are more likely to be excluded than their classmates”.

Department for Education statistics show that looked-after children and children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) are more likely to receive exclusions than their classmates.

Adoption UK said that while adopted children share many of the same issues as looked-after children and are overly represented within the SEND cohort, figures relating to adopted children being excluded are not currently collected by the DfE.

The charity is calling on the government to collect and analyse exclusion and performance statistics for adopted children.

Becky White, Adoption UK’s schools development officer, said: “Adoptive parents are the experts on their children. They’re fully aware of the problems their children regularly face in school - but this survey reveals the shocking extent of these problems.”

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